A Better World?
by Fox Mcloud SNR
Summary: What would happen to the Dragon Warrior if he lost the people he loved?, and who would be able to stop him.
1. Chapter 1

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 1- One Bad Day**

_11 Years after Lord Shen's defeat_

"So what did you drag me up here to talk about Po?" asked Tigress with a soft smile on her face.

Her and Po were standing by the Sacred Peach Tree of Wisdom after a long day of hanging out, they had gotten a meal and trained for an hour before Po suddenly wanted to come up here and tell Tigress something.

In the past 11 years much had changed, Po was no longer the flabby panda, he was now taller and much more muscular, the many years of intense Kung Fu training had also matured him and he was now the true leader of the Furious Five, he also now sported a scar across his right eye which he gained in a battle with bandits.

Tigress had also changed she was nowhere near as stoic or serious as she had been and had loosend up extensively, her face and figure hadn't changed that much though, she was still as graceful and elegant as she had been. Since Shifu's passing six years ago she was also now the Grandmaster of the Jade Palace, it had been offered to Po but he had turned it down.

"There's something I want to tell you Tigress, something I've wanted to tell you for years, but I've only found the courage to do so now" explained Po _"It's finally time I told her how much I love her, and how much I can't live without her, I'm willing to give up my title if that's the rules of the Sacred Rules of the Onyx Xiaolin state". _

He sat down next to the tree and gestured to the spot next to him, Tigress saw this and took her place.

"What is it Po?" Unbeknowst to Po, Tigress held her breath in anticipation _"Is he?.. no he couldn't really feel the same way". _

Po fidgeted nervously, being able to lead the greatest group of Kung Fu warriors of all time, and saving the Valley on a regular basis still didn't make him great at talking to girls..even Tigress who was his best friend.

_"Come on Dragon Warrior say it!" _both of them thought at the same time.

"Well Tigress... the thing is, I've always Lo-" Po was interrupted by Crane who landed on top of the Sacred Tree.

"Po, Tigress there's bandits attacking the village, and Po you might want to know that they are robbing your Dad's old shop".

TIgress gasped, Mister Ping had been killed by a arrow that Po had deflected during a raid on the village, Po had never forgiven himself for that day and closed the shop down in memory of him.

A look of hatred flickered across Po's face "Let's go" he said simply before leaping off of the cliff with Crane and Tigress in pursuit.

It didn't take the trio long to reach the village where the rest of the five were busy finishing off the intruders in the square.

"Mantis, Viper you take the bandits attacking from the west, Monkey and Crane you handle the east" commanded Po.

The Five headed off to complete their objectives leaving Po and Tigress.

"What are _we _doing Po" Tigress asked placing her paw on his shoulder.

"We're going to protect the restaurant" Po replied stoically.

Po and Tigress quickly found it, but to their horror it had been burned to the ground, the embers were still fresh.

"No" murmured Po, he fell to his knees in despair "I can't believe I failed him again" Po wailed, he started to strike the ground in frustration.

"_This must of been what they attacked first, knowing full well what it meant to Po" _Tigress thought sadly.

She glanced at Po, tears were running down his face at an alarming rate.

Tigress walked over to him and helped him up "I'm so sorry Po" she said sadly. Tigress hugged him with as much love as she could.

"We're going to finish this _now _Po, then we can mourn and eventually rebuild it".

Po looked at her and nodded, a fierce determination was in his eye.

The rest of the Five had thinned out the bandits and pushed them towards the center of the village, Tigress and Po arrived there to a huge battle.

Po charged in determined to finish it.

xxxxx

The courtyard was littered with the unconcious and injured bodies of the bandits.

Unbeknowst to the Dragon Warrior however one last bandit was taking cover in a building.

"Goodbye Dragon Warrior" he chortled while lining the panda up in his sights with his last projectile.

xxxxx

Po was complimenting the Five on there teamwork and their honour, he didn't notice the archer hiding in a building about 30 yards away. He was a bit...distracted.

"Good work Po, your leadership skills have improved" said Tigress while sidling up to him.

Po turned to face Tigress beaming at her praise, they stood for a second just staring into each others eyes.

Tigress's ears twitched like she had heard something.

She gasped.

"PO", before he knew what had happened he was on the floor.

He stood up angrily with his back to her.

Po turned around and glared at Tigress "What did you do that f-", he stopped glaring.

Tigress was laying face up with an arrow firmly planted in her chest right where her heart was.

"TIGRESS" Po yelled, he ran over to her and cradled her, "No, it can't end like this" he pleaded.

Tears started to form in his eyes, "Please don't leave me" he pleaded.

The five gathered round mourning their friend.

Their hearts broke at Po's next words.

"I love you Tigress, that's what I was going to say" he started to cry silently.

After a minute, the only sound being Po's grief, he stood up not facing the others.

"Monkey go and find the one responsible and bring him here" he said, his voice was surprisingly calm and collected.

Monkey was naturally conflicted "Are you sure Po?".

Po looked over his shoulder before bellowing "NOW!". Monkey ran off to find the culprit.

xxxxx

The five were gathered round Tigress's body weeping, Po was just gazing silently into space.

Monkey suddenly reappeared with the warthog bandit.

Po calmy gazed at the bandit "Hold him there Monkey and don't let him go".

The bandit merely laughed "What's the matter _panda_ lost yer' girlfriend" he said while sneering at Po.

Po ignored him and picked a sword that had casually dropped during the skirmish.

When he walked back towards the prisoner, Monkey noticed a foreign look in his eye.

He had never seen Po so angry.

Po raised the sword above his head "This is for Tigress...the love of my life" he swung.

The five turned their heads away from the execution.

Po kicked the corpse away from him "Crane and Monkey, take a weapon and finish off every _scumbag _here" he snarled.

Crane looked worridley at Po "But Po...what abo-".

Po in surprising show of speed grabbed him by the neck and looked him dead in the eye.

"That wasn't a request _Master _Crane, it was an order,_this _is how we do things now, we show _no _mercy" he threw Crane to the ground "Now get to it, or would you like to be the second volunteer to show the new order", Po gestured towards the warthog.

Crane simply stared in horror at Po.

Po walked towards Tigress's body and knelt beside her "I'm so sorry my love, I couldn't protect you and I was too much of a coward to say what I _needed _to say. Well no more being weak".

Po gently kissed her on the lips and left her side, he walked towards Mantis and Viper "You two take Tigress's body back to the palace, she will have a proper burial there".

Po started to walk off into the distance, "Wait, Po where are you going?" asked Viper, she was concerned with how quickly he'd changed.

His voice was cold, calm, collected yet powerful "To spread the gospel".

xxxxx

_Present Day_

A much younger Po awoke with a gasp.

He looked around his room at the Jade Palace nervously.

_"It's still night time, oh man I've got one-on-one training with Tigress tomorrow", _he hastily tried to get back to sleep.

He had already forgotten about the vision.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 2 - The Next Day**

The morning light shone through Po's open window illuminating the snoring panda.

_"This is the warrior who saved China?, he looks like a child when he sleeps" _thought Master Tigress who was looking at Po with her arms folded and the trademark frown across her face.

The morning gong had been sounded about thirty seconds ago, as was tradition the Five woke up, stepped out of their doors and bowed to Master Shifu.

He had noticed Po wasn't present and sent Tigress in his room to wake him up.

_"His fur looks really soft" _she thought, Tigress looked round her shoulder to see if she was alone.

She reached out to feel his fur.

Her paw stopped in mid-air, _"Wait a minute...he's stopped snoring", _she turned in horror to look at the half asleep Po staring at her.

"What're doing?" he asked while still not quite believing he had woken up to.

Tigress blushed and quickly stood to attention, "Nothing Dragon Warrior, I apologise for my actions, they were...out of conduct, Master Shifu sent me to wake you up, you are late for training...again".

Po looked horrified and suddenly very awake.

Tigress smiled at his expression "Come on Po we don't want to keep him waiting", secretly though she was relieved that the thought of Shifu's wrath had made him forget catching her trying to...well there isn't really a word beside grope that describes what she was trying to do.

Po hadn't forgotten however, he was just having a hard time believeing it. Ever since their date two days ago their relationship had completely changed, their feelings for each other were mutual, they just needed to admit it to the other.

They also still hadn't told any of of the five or Master Shifu about their date that day, it wasn't that they were ashamed of the time that they had spent together, they agreed however that they were more comfortable with just the two of them knowing about it, for now anyway.

Po followed Tigress out of his room, he tried not to look at Master Shifu who's stern gaze followed him as he walked.

Po bowed to him "I'm sorry Master Shifu, it won't happen again", Shifu looked at him for a second "Rise Dragon Warrior", Po stopped bowing and stood up.

Shifu sighed "I'm not angry Po, I'm just disappointed", Po winced _"He must know that being disappointed hurts more"._

Shifu ignored Po's wincing and continued "I would have imagined after over two years of the gong drill and the example of your fellow masters that you would've got it", Tigress and the others swelled with pride after he said that.

"It matters not however, we shall continue until you finally learn. Po your punishment is no breakfast, go into the training hall and start warming up".

He addressed the Five "After you all finish eating join Po and spend the rest of the day training, however instead of the one-on-ones I had planned I'll make it more of a freeform training session today, which means you can train however you like, but if I catch you slacking there will be a severe punishment, am I understood?.

They all bowed and in unison said "Yes Master Shifu".

Shifu smiled "Good if you need me I will be meditating, oh and Po before you go, after you finish your training today I need to speak to you about something", with that he left them to their own devices.

Po sighed "Oh well, see you guys in a minute", he sulked off to the training hall.

Tigress watched his retreating figure _" I shouldn't feel too bad for him, he has been given more than enough time to learn", _she shrugged and went to get some food.

xxxxx

The breakfast conversation had consisted of Mantis and Monkey telling each other jokes of increasing maturity and inappropriateness, Crane and Viper were talking about caligraphy and ribbon dancing, _"They also appear to be moving closer to one another" _observed Tigress.

Tigress meanwhile was just pushing her tofu around the plate with no interest in eating it, her thoughts were on Po and their morning encounter.

_"I can't believe I tried to feel his fur, it's just after years of making my paws numb to any sensation...I want to feel". _

Tigress then noticed that silence had befallen the room she looked up and noticed that all of the chairs were empty.

"Tigress are you coming or what?" said Mantis while hopping out of the room.

She hastily got up and left to go train.

xxxxx

As Tigress got closer she couldn't hear any noise coming from the hall, "_Po's probably slacking off again, what a surprise"_.

As she got closer she could see the others all crowded round the door trying to peek in.

"What are you all doing?" asked Tigress.

"Shhhh" insisted Viper "Just look", Viper moved slightly so Tigress could get a look.

Po was practising his Inner Peace movements, his features looked completley at peace and his movements were fluid and precise. Tigress was completley mesmerised by his performance.

_"Wow he's like a completley different person when he's focused", _Tigress inwardly laughed at the juxpition between what Po was doing now and his childishness and tardiness when he woke up.

Tigress also noticed through his more relaxed movements how muscular and...dare she say attractive? he had gotten.

Before she knew what was happening she just begin to stare at Po, to her at that moment they were the only two people in existence.

However in the real world Viper noticed Tigress dreamy expression when looking at Po, she simply smiled and kept it to herself though she would confront Tigress about it later when they were alone.

Po suddenly stopped because he felt like he was being watched, his fears were confirmed when he saw the door slightly ajar and the five pairs of eyes looking at him.

He suddenly felt very self concious "Why are you guys staring at me?".

Mantis spoke for the group "Sorry big guy, it's just that it's...well...amazing to watch someone doing those movements and we've only seen you do them once before, it's a nice change of pace seeing it and not being in peril".

Po chuckled "So what do you guys want to do for training".

Tigress snapped out of her trance and sensed an oppourtunity to get some alone time with Po.

"Po, we need to work on your speed, you and me will do some elimination tag" said Tigress trying not to smile at her quick thinking.

Po was completley naive to her plan and went into fanboy mode at Tigress's willingness to spend time with him.

They both walked outside, they didn't notice Viper and the others giving them knowing looks.

Monkey broke the silence "I'm glad she's starting to make a move, although I always thought Po would be the one to do it".

The others nodded at his sentence and split up to begin their training.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 3- Predator and Prey**

**Just to make it clear for people, the events in the present take place after my previous story "Date" which explains why Po and Tigress are acting this way towards each other.**

Po walked nervously through the long grass in the Wu Dan mountains, his and Tigress's game of tag had brought them all the way up here and had slowly turned into more of an opurtunity for fun instead of the hardcore training session that was intended.

"Tigress, h-hello...where are you?" Po didn't like the feeling that he was the prey in this suituation.

The predator was laying pressed againist the ground in a effort to stay camoflauged, she waited until Po was close enough and then she struck.

She leaped out of hiding and tackled Po down a hill, he didn't have any time to react and just let a shriek that wouldn't be out of place comeing from an eight year old girl.

They tumbled down the hill and the colours of their fur mixed into a collage of orange and black and white.

Po hit the ground first landing on his back, almost as if in slow motion he saw Tigress about to land on him causing him to yell in surprise and pain as she landed on his belly.

Tigress smirked at Po and shifted her body weight so she was kneeling on his stomuch, she wasn't worried about hurting him she knew he was strong enough to take her body weight.

A silence erupted because of the romantic overtones of their position.

Tigress suddenly started to clutch her sides and laughed the hardest Po had ever heard her laugh, Her laughter was infectious so Po joined her.

_"She is so beautiful when she laughs"_. Po thought as he stared at Tigress admiringly.

Tigress gave a victory fist pump, she then saw Po's amused expression "What?"

"_The_ Master Tigress just giggled like a schoolgirl and did a victory fist pump, that was so.. out of character. Am I starting to rub off on you Tigress?" Po inquired as he looked back at her with a warm grin.

Tigress gave him a worried look, "Do you think it's weir–"

"You kidding me? I think it's totally awesome!" Po interjected while staring into her amber eyes to give her more reassurance.

"Thank you Po".

Po decided to just ask her what he been wanting to ask her, "So Tigress, y'know that date we had a couple of days ago".

"Yes Po, I remember" her heart fluttered at the thought.

Po was surprised that she didn't react badly when he had called it a date, he didn't mention this in case she had done it by mistake.

"I was wondering did you want to do that again sometime" Po tried to sound more confident then the first time he had asked her.

Tigress nodded and said "Like I said that night Po, anytime".

Po beamed at her.

For a while they just stared at each other until Po realised that the sun was starting to go down.

"Oh man, I've got to go and speak to Shifu", Tigress got off of his belly and tried to hide her disappointment at the sudden lack of contact.

"That was a really fun day Tigress" Po got up off of the floor.

"I'll see you at dinner okay" Po suddenly walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek just like she did _that _night.

Po didn't stick around to see what she would do and sprinted off back to the palace to find Master Shifu.

Tigress just stood there in shock before chuckling and walking back to the barracks.

xxxxx

Po entered the Hall of Heroes and saw Master Shifu standing in his usual place by the Moon Pool.

Po strode up to Master Shifu "So what did you want to talk about?".

Shifu turned to face him "I want to tell you about an ancient Kung Fu treasure that has been lost for centuries".

"Master, why are you telling me this now?, it seems a bit sudden" asked Po.

Shifu surprisingly looked quite proud.

"I've thought about it for the past few days, whether you were ready to know...there is another reason however Po".

Po was worried had Shifu found out about his and Tigress's growing "friendship", was he sending him on a wild goose chase to find this object to try and seperate him and her?.

"What is it Master?" Po asked while trying not to show his nervousness.

"Well Po...you seem to have a knack for finding and doing things that take other masters", Shifu looked embarassed and muttered "Including me, many years".

"Like learning Inner Peace for example, Po you earned it in just a few days whereas it took me over forty years".

Po was relieved, not to mention proud of his acheivements, especially since the usually stoic Master Shifu was telling him how great they were.

"Thanks Master, although I wouldn't have got there without your help" Po said and bowed to show his respect.

"Quite" said Shifu firmly.

Shifu took a deep breath and started the tale.


	4. Chapter 4

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 4- The Sacred Blood Star**

"Although the period is up for debate, according to most scholars, about 800 years ago there lived a revered genius who was named Taopi who specialised in alchemy, which is the science of understanding, deconstructing and reconstructing matter, he crafted wonderful devices and objects that helped to better the lives of those most unlucky".

"Eventually though it was not enough for him to sacrifice his time, he wanted to make the _ultimate _sacrifice to help people".

"What do you mean by the _ultimate _sacrifice" asked Po who now sitting cross legged in front of Shifu, like a child.

Shifu just looked seriously at Po for a second before he understood, he gave a gasp to show his understanding.

Shifu continued after sighing deeply at Po's child like tendencies.

"He created a stone with mystical properties, it granted the user the ability to ignore the limits that chi places on the body".

Shifu noticed Po was confused so he repeated it in terms he would understand.

"You can use any Kung Fu technique you want without the fear of tiring yourself out".

Po smiled gratefully.

"Annoyingly Taopi was apparently not a fan of writing things down as nobody knows how he created this stone, one minute it didn't exist and the next minute it did".

"He used the stone to help farming and to cure diseases and all was well", Shifu's voice and facial expression suddenly took on a sad tone.

"Unfortunatley because he became so reliant on using it's powers , when it was eventually seperated from him, his body simply disintegrated into ash, as did the stone".

Po gasped "What just like that?"

Shifu nodded solemly "Indeed Po, just like that".

"It took two centuries and many unsucessful and sometimes fatal attempts but one day , someone made another one".

Po interjected "How?, wasn't the method lost".

Shifu nodded "It was, but as you well know Po some people will try anything to gain unlimited power".

Po asked _the _question "So how do you make one".

"The method is also where it gets it's name from, it is called The Sacred Blood Star and you make it by sacrificing life".

Po gasped yet again this time however in outrage "How could someone sacrifice people just to make their own lives better".

Shifu smiled "This is why I felt confident in telling you this tale Po, because I know how pure your heart is, you would never feel the temptation to attempt to make one, the history of this object has been obviosuly long and bloody, many evil Kung Fu masters have attempted to use it so they could use some of the more life threatining Kung Fu moves and techniques.

Po went into fanboy mode "Ohhh what kind of techniques, like the Thundering Wind Hammer or the Mongolian Fire Ball".

"Don't get so overexcited though Po, it is just a legend, however I only told you about the story of the stone so you might one day find a more...peaceful way of making one".

Po stood up "Thank you for the story Master Shifu" he bowed again and started to walk away.

"Wait Po, there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about" Shifu suddenly appeared right in front of Po which caused him to fall over in shock.

"Yes Master S-Shifu" Po stammered.

Shifu looked him dead in the eye and smirked devishily "I know where you and Tigress were the other day".

Po started to hyper ventilate "Please don't blame her Master it was my idea...she didn't even want to go" he said desperatley.

"Didn't she?" Shifu chuckled knowingly, "Well you way you two have been staring at each other during training, and the incredible amount of time you spend together I'm willing to bet she did and I'm even more willing to bet she even liked it".

Po knew he'd been rumbled "I...uhhh"

Shifu smirked at the panda's inability to speak "All I will say is this Po, do not let it interefere with your training and do not show each other affection when you are on a mission because you don't want to let your enemies use her as a way to get to you".

Po got up and bowed "Thank you Master Shifu", he wasn't up for long however.

Shifu knocked him over...again "Po, do you love her?" he asked his face serious.

Po didn't know what to say and just blushed.

Shifu scowled at him "If you break her heart I'm going to make you wish you had never been picked as the Dragon Warrior" he paused and turned to walk away "And I'm sure she will too".

A confident voice rang out throughout the hall "I do".

Shifu turned to face him.

Po was on his feet, he strided over to Shifu and looked him dead in the eye, "I've loved since I first saw her in public when I was twelve, it's only gotten stronger since then".

The staring contest ended with Shifu smiling at Po.

"Then do not hesitate to tell her this Po, you have my blessings to give her the love that I so selfishly denied her".

Po watched Shifu's retreating form with a warm smile on his face.

"Come Dragon Warrior it is time for you to prepare dinner and... I think we are in the mood for some of your famous soup".

Po ran to catch up with him.


	5. Chapter 5

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 5- The Resistance**

_The future_

_Six hours after Tigress's Death_

Crane, Viper, Mantis and Monkey were standing in front of Tigress's grave, only Po and the rest of the five had buried her and held a small service for her.

Po didn't say a word the whole time, he just glared into space, Tigress's blood was still stained into his fur. After they had finished he walked back to the palace alone.

"Did Po tell you where he went after she was killed?" asked Crane.

"No he didn't, but I think he found the bandits who got away and..." Viper couldn't finish her sentence, it scared her to think about Po's state of mind.

"Is this the end of us ?, because if this is what Po is going to do we need to stop him...if he carries on he is going to become the greatest threat that China has ever seen".

It pained Crane to think about putting Po down, but as far as he was concerned the fact that he had forced Crane and Monkey to _murder _defenceless foes proved there was no going back.

Viper turned on him angrily "How can you say that?, he's grief stricken, heartbroken and he's your friend, we have to support him no matter what".

Crane was stunned "But Viper he's gone against everything we were ever taught by Oogway and Shifu , it doesn't matter _why _he's doing this, he's got to be stopped".

"But what if Shifu and Oogway were wrong all along and this is the way that we can finally stop evil, by beating them at their own game" said Monkey finally joining the conversation.

Mantis gasped "No you can't believe in this madness", he hopped off of Monkey's shoulder and stood next to Crane.

"I don't know if I do" Monkey became angry "But what I do know is that because of what Po did today the Lin Kuei will never hurt anyone again and we won't lose another friend because of some punk with a bow".

Monkey sighed "I'm going to help Po at the palace, he's my best friend so I will stick by him no matter what".

Monkey walked off back to the palace.

Viper began to follow him but was stopped, "Viper please don't go" pleaded Crane.

Viper look conflicted for a moment but then slapped Crane in the face with her tail.

She looked around "I can't believe that you would betray him like this, I lost someone I considered a sister today and I'm hurting..._bad, _but that's nothing compared to what he's feeling and Monkey was right, maybe this is the way".

She slithered off after Monkey.

Crane's heart broke at her words, he lowered his head and muttered "I'm not the one that he's betrayed" he glanced at Tigress's grave, "I'm sorry Tigress, for not protecting him like you made me promise".

Mantis hopped up on Crane's shoulder.

"So what do we do?"

Crane sighed "We have to protect the villagers from Po's wrath", Crane never thought he would hear those words not least from himself.

Mantis nodded "I can't believe this is how it ends, the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior, all of the good we've inspired is going to come undone by what happens next".

Crane looked at Mantis "We're going to form a resistance".

xxxxx

Po entered the Hall of Heroes and walked over to what he had come for.

The Sword of Heroes lay gleaming on it's stand until Po's shadow was cast over it.

He picked it up and waved it about before strapping it to his waist.

Po made his way to his room, when inside he reached into a drawer and took out a locket that he was going to give to _her_.

He opened the locket, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a snippet of her fur that he had taken from her body.

He put the fur in the locket, closed it and held it to his heart "So I will never forget you or the promise that I've made to you".

He turned around to leave and saw Zeng standing in his doorway.

"Master Po, what are you doing here?" asked Zeng, he looked worried and almost...afraid at the fire in Po's eye.

Po just ignored his question "Get out of the valley while you still can Zeng".

"Why?".

"Because I don't want you to get hurt", some of the old Po was apparently still in there.

Zeng looked at Po for a moment before nodding and leaving to pack his things.

xxxxx

Po went to the barracks to gather what remained of the five.

When he entered the kitchen he was surprised to see only Monkey and Viper present.

"Where are the others?" he demanded.

Viper answered "They refuse to help you".

Po slammed his fist into the table "Damn them", he sighed "Oh well, they don't matter we can convince them that this _is _the way of the world later".

Po turned towards Monkey "Gather all the villagers at the bottom of the Thousand Steps, I have an annoucement to make".

Monkey nodded and ran off.

Viper looked at Po and put her tail on his shoulder, "Po are you okay?".

Po just looked at her "I've never been better".

Viper didn't believe him but just decided to go along with it, "If you ever need to talk to someone Po you can talk to me, I know what you're going through".

Po merely snorted "I doubt that _highly_".

His face softened "But thank you though".

xxxxx

All the villagers stood in front of the steps wating for Po.

When he finally arrived they became tense because they knew of the loss he had suffered.

"Listen up" Po started.

He began to pace "There's going to be a few new rules put in place".

"Number one - "You Kill, You Die".

"Number two - "You Steal, You Die".

"Number three- "Any previously small crimes such as littering will now have more..._advanced _punishments".

"And finally number four - "You shall no longer call me Po. My name from now on shall be my title, you are _all _to address me as the Dragon Warrior".

The auidience was petrified of this colder, harsher Po.

Po stepped down from his "Podium" and walked back up to the Palace with Monkey and Viper following him.

"Monkey go to Chorh-Gom Prison and bring all of the Rhino guards here, we need an army to enforce this".

Monkey nodded "Ok Po".

Po turned on him angrily "I told you _all _to call me the Dragon Warrior, no more Po, it's a name and a person associated with weakness".

He left Monkey and Viper on the stairs.


	6. Chapter 6

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 6 - He Flew to the Sun on Wings Made out of Wax**

_2 Years after Crane and Mantis pledged to defeat The Dragon Warrior_

A full moon shone in the sky, apart from the lanterns the rhino guards were carrying it was the only light source.

Mantis and Crane hid in the shadows by the Jade Palace waiting for the patrol to move on.

In the 2 years since _that _day things had only gotten worse, Po had taken out every single threat to peace in the land. They were taken into the Jade Palace and never seen again.

Crane and Mantis had tried to repel Po and his army whenever they could but with just the two of them it wasn't enough and they often had to be content with small victories.

The rumor that Crane and Mantis were investigating was that Po apparently possessed a weapon which could amplify his fighting strength and chi.

Mantis hopped on Crane's shoulder, "So, do you think this is a bit of a long shot, it could be a trap".

Crane just scowled at him "Mantis, do you value your life?".

Mantis looked quizzically at him, "Well yeah..of course".

Crane looked back towards the entrance but kept the venom in his voice, "Then stop with the idle chit-chat".

"Alright then...Tigress", Mantis muttered bitterly.

Crane ignored him, he spotted a gap in the patrol "OK, move!".

They darted across the courtyard barely missing the gaze of the guards.

They dived behind a nearby wall.

_"That was too close" _thought Crane, _"Nearly there, if we can just confront Po and try to take out the weapon, then we've won...this sounds very similar to when Po beat Shen in that firework factory of his" _. Crane sighed sadly at that thought.

Crane was snapped out of his thought by a guard walking towards their hiding spot.

"Mantis!" Crane muttered, "Take him out, and hide the evidence".

Mantis nodded and leaped out from the hiding spot, a couple of grunts were heard and then Mantis returned dragging the body.

"Man you're lucky we don't go in for Po's methods" Mantis grumbled while carrying him.

They dumped the guard where they were hidden and moved further into the compound.

After a while they finally reached the Hall of Heroes which Po had made his headquarters.

Crane cautiously opened the door which creaked loudly, "Keep a sharp eye out Mantis".

Mantis nodded silently, they moved about the hall looking for the objective. The hall was pretty much the same since Po had taken the sword from it.

_"It's too quiet, and why is it deserted...wait a minu-" _before Crane could finish his thought he was struck in the face by a chain hammer, he sailed through the air and crashed into the wall.

"CRANE!" shouted Mantis, _"This is bad, where did that come from", _his thought was answered by the almost demonic presence of Po who was swinging the hammer almost casually.

Po merely glanced at him before launching the hammer at Mantis and taking him out as well.

"I knew you morons would fall for something as simple as that, I would of as well when I younger and more naive".

Po raised his voice "Restrain them", as if out of nowhere Monkey and Viper appeared out of nowhere with some of the rhino guards grabbed Crane and Mantis and restrained them.

Po smirked evilly and looked Crane in the eye, "After two years I would've thought that you two would actually have got somewhere, but your weak and you lack the courage to do what is necessary".

Po walked over to the Moon Pool and gazed into it, "But since you were so generous in your stupidity I'll tell you why I needed you".

Before he could start Crane tried to reason with him, "Po, I know you're still hurting about Tigress's death, we all are, just stop this before you undo all of the good you inspired".

At the mention of Tigress's name Po turned angrily on him.

"Don't mention her name, you aren't worthy to".

Crane sighed "If she was still alive Po, _this _would've killed her".

Viper gasped and looked at Po to see what Crane's words had done to him.

Po stared at Crane for a moment before looking at Viper and Monkey , "Take Mantis out of here and leave me alone with Crane".

Viper nodded and gestured towards to guards.

Mantis tried to fight them off, he caught Crane's eye and Crane gave him a knowing nod, Mantis went peacefully.

_"I hope you know what you're doing Crane...just be safe buddy I can't lose you as well", _he gazed one last time at Crane not knowing whether it was the last time he would ever see him alive.

Po waited until the door closed, he then launched himself at Crane and held him aloft by the throat.

"Because of your comment you'll be the first one I test _it _on".

Po dropped him on the ground, Crane nursed his throat _"I can already feel a bruise forming, Po that wasn't a smart move leaving me alone with you, I'll just wait for my chance to strike"._

Po reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red stone that gave off a otherworldly glow.

Crane couldn't tear his eyes away from it, it spoke volumes of pain, beauty, death and betrayal.

Crane finally asked "What is that?".

Po explained "It is the salvation of China, Shifu told me long ago of a powerful object that could amplify chi" he gestured towards it "This is it".

Crane finally tore his eyes away from it and looked at Po.

"How did you make it?", Crane subtly started to shift into a fighting stance.

Po laughed "Through sacrifice".

Crane was horrified "You sacrificed people to make that?".

"Get off your high horse Crane, the people should be glad to serve me in the afterlife", Po seemed to contemplate something "I'm going to see whether I can use this to destroy the _real _threat to peace and then I'm going to visit other worlds with this and better those too".

Crane was almost ready to attack "And what would the real threat to peace be?".

Po pointed the stone at him and started to build his chi "YOU!" he shouted.

Crane lept at him confidant in his victory, however his body started to disintegrate before his very eyes.

When the dust had cleared, Po couldn't see Crane anymore.

_"That didn't kill him, he distracted me, I must of merely sent him somewhere, I need to find him and finish him off"._

Po looked at his locket sadly , "I've failed you Tigress, I let him get away".

xxxxx

Crane opened his eyes _"Ohhh, my head is killing me...huh where am I?"._

He stood up and looked around to find himself in a very familiar but younger looking courtyard.

He sensed a presence behind him and got into a fighting stance.

A person Crane had never expected to see again was standing before him possibly looking more confused then he did.

"Tigress?".


	7. Chapter 7

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 7- Soup and Stories**

_The Present - Five minutes ago_

There was a content silence surrounding the table as Po served the Secret Ingredient Soup to everyone except Tigress.

"Tigress are you sure you don't want any of my Dad's world famous Secret Ingredient Soup" he asked while trying to look as cute as possible to try and sway her.

_"That's the 657th time he's asked me...and the answers still no" _Tigress thought.

"Sorry Po but I think I'll just stick with the tofu, nice try by acting cute though" she said, Tigress smiled sweetly at him to cheer him up...it worked.

Po over exuberantly sat down next to Tigress and started to greedily eat his soup and the dumplings that he'd brought over for himself.

The others just watched in bemusement, "So your tables manners are improving then Po?" asked Master Shifu with one eyebrow raised.

Po bashfully looked up from his food, his mouth was close to bursting point full of food.

Monkey answered for him "Yeah, this time he's actually managing to eat without putting anyone else off".

Everyone laughed at his comment even Shifu and Tigress.

Po just rolled his eyes and carried on eating.

"So what training did you all choose to do today?" asked Shifu.

Crane started "Well me and Viper did some Tai Chi and meditated for a couple of hours".

Shifu just looked blankly at them before saying "And I hope that's all you did".

Crane blushed heavily while Viper just giggled.

"Me and Monkey just sparred for a few hours" said Mantis, in reality they had only done that for about an hour before spending the rest of the day just messing around.

"I see" said Shifu who remained unconvinced.

Shifu looked at Po and Tigress "And you two?" he asked.

Po nearly choked on his food "_What am I supposed to say that me and Tigress just...well... hung out". _

Luckily Tigress saved him from explaining anything.

Her face remained emotionless "We worked on Po's speed".

Monkey and Mantis started to snicker.

Po and Tigress started to blush heavily although it was more noticeable on Po.

Tigress surprisingly lost her composure "N-no not like that".

Viper rolled her eyes "Real mature guys".

After some more jokes at Tigress and Po's expense a lighter topic of conversation started between everyone except Shifu who was content to just eat silently, after a while he heard a small commotion in the courtyard thanks to his large eye._  
_

Shifu raised his hand to indicate that everyone should be quiet, his action was respected.

"Everyone listen to me closely" he muttered, "There is someone in the courtyard I cannot tell if it an enemy or not, Tigress and Crane go and check it out if we hear a fight we will come and back you up".

Tigress nodded and gestured to Crane to follow her, before she left Po looked at her with worry in his eye "Be careful Tigress".

While both she and Po knew that she was more than capable of defending herself (and often needed to defend Po more than the other way around), she still had to admit that she found his concern for her well being…rather sweet.

"Thanks Po" she said, before leaving she smiled to herself.

The others could only sit and wait.

xxxxx

Tigress and Crane moved as quietly as they could outside.

When they could hear the intruder moving about Tigress nodded to Crane signaling that they should split up.

Tigress got on all fours and sprinted out to meet the visitor to try and take them by surprise.

She leaped out and got into a fighting stance, she stopped when she got a good look at her opponent.

Looking at her was a much older, weary looking Crane who looked poised to attack her until he saw her.

"Tigress?" he said, he dropped his stance and just gawped at her.

Tigress looked at him for a moment shocked then she realized she should probably call Shifu.

"MASTER SHIFU, YOU NEED TO SEE THIS!".

The older Crane gasped "Shifus here too?. Does that mean I really am dead?".

Shifu and the others quickly gathered towards Tigress's yell, they all gasped when they saw Crane.

Shifu quickly leapt at Crane and started to hit random spots on his body.

When he was finished Shifu threw Crane to the ground and made sure that he wouldn't get up.

Shifu looked at Po and the Five, "He is not using a shift stone, my attack would have disabled the enchantment, whoever he is must be something to do with Crane...our Crane I mean".

The younger Crane panicked "I've never seen him before, honestly".

The older Crane tried to get up but was thwarted by Shifu, "You have to listen to me" he said.

_"I need to get them to listen to me, if I am back in the past then I need to make sure I don't reveal too much"._

Master Shifu spoke to him "Who are you and what do you want?".

Crane sighed "You wouldn't believe me, even I'm having a hard time believing it".

Shifu smirked "Try me".

Crane stood up "I'm from the future", he paused and pointed his wing at his younger self "I'm _him _from the future, roughly eleven years.

Monkey and Mantis started laughing.

Tigress walked up to Shifu "Master you can't honestly believe this, it's ludicrous".

Shifu didn't say anything "Continue...Crane, how did you get here?".

Crane sighed "_I might as well tell them, it might make things better in the future"._

He pointed his wing at Po calmly , "I was sent here by _him_" .

Po went into fan boy mode "This is so cool, I sent you back to save the world or to tell me something, the possibilities are endless".

Crane scowled at him "Let me narrow them down for you, I was sent here because you tried to kill me".

Monkey and Mantis stopped laughing and Po stopped talking to himself about how "Awesome this was".

Tigress started to get ready to attack him "I knew it you _are_ evil and you're a liar, why else would Po do that?".

Crane looked sadly at her "Because you're dead".

A stunned silence befell everyone, Crane walked into the palace "Come on I'll tell you everything when we're inside".


	8. Chapter 8

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 8- Days of Future Past**

_The Future, five minutes after Po sent Crane to the past_

The Dragon Warrior paced around waiting for Crane to reappear.

After a while he gave up and called Viper and Monkey in. Monkey was carrying a small cage that contained Mantis who looked very annoyed at his current predicament and very worried for Crane.

"Where did Crane go Dragon Warrior?" asked Monkey.

Po looked at the both of them "He got away".

Viper looked around "How?, there's only one entrance and we were standing on the other side of it".

"Never you mind" Po snapped. "All you need to know is he got away, send the rhinos to patrol the valley and it's surrounding areas just in case thats where he ended up".

Viper nodded and slithered out to inform the guards "_I hope Crane's alright, I know he's defying Po but I just want us all to be friends again". _

Monkey watched Viper's retreating form "What do you want me to do with Mantis?".

Po started to pace again "Put him in a cell in the basement, maybe we can use him later to find out where more of his pathetic resistance is".

Monkey left to follow Po's order.

_"I'll wait a week, if he doesn't return I'll follow him and finish this off for good. What about Viper and Monkey what do I tell them? they don't know about the stone I made, they think I've just been having the criminals we capture executed, I'll just tell them I'm going out of the country to look for Crane alone and then I'll use the stone to follow him". _

Po looked at his locket _"I won't let him get away...I'll make you proud Tigress". _

xxxxx

Monkey threw Mantis into a cell and stood guard outside.

Inside his cell Mantis gazed sadly into space deep in thought _"I can't believe it! Crane just abandoned me here...No! he must just be biding his time until he can spring me out...I hope"._

Mantis decided to try and irritate Monkey figuring his anger could become a useful weapon later.

"Hey Monkey does it feel good being Po's bitch!" Mantis yelled out to him.

Mantis heard Monkey grunt in annoyance, his plan was starting to work it just needed more time "I bet your dead mother would be sooo proud of _you_".

xxxxx

_The Present _

"You may want to have a seat, this is going to a long story" Crane said as he walked into the kitchen.

Everyone listened to him and sat down in a seat, Crane stood in the doorway looking glumly at them _"This is going to be hard to revisit, but necessary"._

"I'll try not to go into specifics about future events just in case it would affect positive aspects of your futures is that OK?.

Shifu nodded "Please begin".

Crane cleared his throat and began "Two years ago in my world it was an ordinary day, we had trained and Po and Tigress...My Po and Tigress I mean spent the day together as they usually did".

"Then we got an alert that bandits were attacking the village, naturally we went to repel them", Crane paused to consider his next words carefully.

"The battle was average and we finished it quickly...however we weren't thorough enough", Crane's face took a melancholy form.

"When we were celebrating our victory an archer tried to kill Po, Tigress saw this and pushed him out of the way to protect him...she was dead before she hit the ground".

Everyone gasped, Tigress was in shock.

_"I die...protecting Po?...would I really be that reckless just to save his life. What am I saying to save him I would gladly give my life I just...never thought I would have t-" _Tigress was snapped out of thought by Po grabbing her paw with both of his and squeezing it tightly.

Tigress looked at Po, his eyes had a flurry of emotions running through them, he was upset that she died protecting him but he was smitten by the fact that he meant so much to her that she would do that.

Crane noticed this interaction and continued "_I can't say what Po said to Tigress in his grief just in case these two haven't got that far yet"._

"Po was devastated...we all were but something...happened to him. He brutally killed the one responsible and he made me and the others follow his example".

Tigress stood up in anger "Now I've heard enough, Po would never murder someone in cold blood" she looked at Po "Right Po?".

Po looked conflicted "I honestly don't know Tigress, when Shen hurt you and everyone else with the cannon I was so angry that I wanted to hurt him..._bad_".

The older Crane was confused "Wait what?, when did he hit Tigress with a cannon?".

Viper looked at him quizzically "Yeah we were in the docks and she pushed him out of the way and took the blast".

Crane frowned at Po "Po in my world you killed Shen in the firework factory when you were trying to confront him about your parent's fate".

Shifu interjected "So in your world Po never came to terms with his past and he never learned Inner Peace?".

Crane shook his head "No it tore him up inside for years, he would only ever talk to Tigress about it".

Po suddenly looked happy "So that means I won't become a jerk because I learned Inner Peace...Wow am I lucky or what!".

Shifu looked at Po "Not necessarily Po everyone has the capacity for evil, remember what you just said about Shen".

Po remembered and looked disappointed, Tigress gripped his paw and turned his face to look at her's "I promise Po it will never get to that, I won't let you become that monster".

Po looked relieved "Thanks Tigress".

Shifu motioned for Crane to finish his story

"Viper and Monkey sympathized with Po and joined him on his mad quest to make the world a "safer place".

Viper and Monkey were heartbroken, "How could we just abandon what we've been taught?" asked Monkey sadly.

The younger Crane put a wing on his shoulder "Remember Monkey you and Viper were also mourning over Tigress's death you wouldn't have been thinking straight, in the heat of the moment it must of seemed like a good idea".

The older Crane nodded "Indeed".

Mantis finally spoke "So do I become like these two jerks as well" gesturing to Viper and Monkey.

Viper hissed at him "Shut up Mantis".

"No in the future me and you make up a small resistance to Po's regime" Crane explained.

Mantis chuckled "I've always backed the underdog".

Shifu angrily turned on him "You think this is a joke Master Mantis?, because if so then you are dismissed from this room and this conversation do I make myself clear?".

Mantis stopped chuckling and bowed to Master Shifu "I am sorry Master I am not trying to make light of this situation".

Shifu nodded "Good".

Crane finished his story "Anyway I confronted Po but he had a new weapon of mass destruction to use".

"It was a small red rock that could amplify his chi and grant him unlimited power, he tried to use it to kill me but I disrupted it's power and I woke up here".

Shifu gasped at the mention of the rock, he looked at Po who also had a look of realization.

Po spoke "Are you thinking what I'm thinking Master?".

Tigress asked "What is it do you know of this weapon?".

Shifu nodded "It is known as the Sacred Blood Stone it can grant the user an unlimited supply of power".

Shifu turned to Crane "How did he make it the original blueprint was lost".

Crane looked darkly at Shifu "How'd you think?".

Po and Shifu gasped "He sacrificed life?" gasped Po.

Crane nodded gravely "Yes".

"Wait so he made a sacred stone by sacrificing the lives of innocents" asked Monkey, he slammed his fist into the table "That's unforgivable".

Crane sighed "Po is going to come after me and try to finish the job, I feel it is pointless asking but wil you help me finally defeat him?".

Po jumped up enthusiastically "Totally, I'm gonna get what's coming to me...wait that's not right".

Tigress stood up up and put her hand on Po's shoulder "We know what you meant Po, and I'm in" she paused "We all are".

Crane smiled "You have no idea how much I've missed this".

Shifu stood up "Ok it's been a long day and it's been a lot to take in, we can discuss this more tomorrow now everyone get some rest".

Crane looked confused "And where do I sleep?".

Shifu looked at him amused "Just sleep in your room with your younger self, there's nothing in that room that you haven't seen before".

Monkey and Mantis laughed and everyone headed to the barracks, everyone went into their rooms until just Po and Tigress were left.

Po looked uneasy and nervously scratched his arm "Well goodnight Tigress".

Tigress also looked uneasy "Goodnight Po".

They both left each other awkwardly and went to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 9 - The Mysterious Case of the Panda in the Night Time **

_The Present_

Po tossed and turned in his sleep, he was in the middle of a nightmare both literally and figaritiveley.

xxxxx

**Po's Dream State**

_All Po could see was fire._

_"Hello!" he called out "Is anyone there?", Po could hardly see through the flames._

_He waded through them for a while, "Weird, I'm not being burnt, I can't even feel the heat" he said out loud._

_Po saw a oddly familiar figure on a distant hill which he began to make his way over to._

_As Po got closer he could see that figure appeared to laughing at the scenery._

_"Why would anyone laugh at this hell hole?...a better question is why is everything on fire?_

_Po got close enough to decipher the identity of the figure._

_Po gasped "It can't be...NO!"._

_The figure was him._

xxxxx

Po awoke with a gasp "_Well at least I didn't hit my head like when I talked to Mom a few days ago"._

Po put his head in his hands _"Was that a vision of the future, am I really going to become the monster that Crane described?"._

_"I need to meditate", _Po got up and left to go to the Sacred Peach Tree of Wisdom which was a popular meditation spot with him.

xxxxx

Across the hall Tigress was deep in thought about what she had been told by Crane.

"_So I'm going to die, if what Crane said is true then it's in the near future, but on the other hand events have happened differently in his world so it might never happen"._

Tigress sighed, this information was tearing her up on the inside.

"_If it is going to happen should I distance myself from Po?, from what Crane said his Po and Tigress were very close, I don't want Po to become a monster because of me. No I can't avoid Po it would break his heart"._

She suddenly heard Po's restlessness during his nightmare and was about to go and check on him when she heard him get up and leave his room.

_"I'd better see if he's alright" _she thought.

She knew where she would find him, he went to the exact same place she did when she was troubled.

As she reached the top of the path leading up to the tree she saw Po's melancholic form sitting against it.

She walked up behind him and put a paw on his shoulder, Po jumped at the sudden contact, he clearly hadn't been minding his surroundings.

"Oh h-hey Tigress w-what are you doing up?" asked Po while twiddling his thumbs.

Tigress smiled at his nervousness "I was just making sure you were okay, I heard you having a nightmare and I was going to help you but you got up and came here so I followed you".

Po relaxed after she smiled at him.

Tigress sat down next to him "So what was your nightmare about?".

Po sighed "I woke up in a field of fire, I went to find the one responsible and I did".

Tigress looked at him quizzically and gestured with her paw "And?".

Po refused to look her in the eye "It was me Tigress...I was destroying the world".

Tigress rubbed his shoulder affectionately with her paw, "Po you shouldn't worry about becoming that, I promised you I would never let you go down that road".

Po looked at her sadly "But if I ever lost you I don't know what I would do, I can't live without you Tigress".

Tigress's heart started to beat rapidly when he said that, "_This is it"_ thought Tigress, _"Do I distance myself or get closer?"._

She smiled "I couldn't live without you either Po".

She became serious again "Po".

"Yeah Tigress".

Tigress held his paw with one hand and stroked his cheek lovingly with the other.

"Please promise me Po that if that ever happens, if I do...die, please don't fall into despair, be strong Po you have the purest heart I've ever seen and with it you can overcome anything".

Po put his free paw over the paw on his cheek.

"I'll try Tigress just...promise me that you won't give me the chance to test it".

Tigress chuckled softly "Like I would give Crane the glory of saying "I told you so", we _can _change the future Po that doesn't have to be our destiny".

Po nodded at smiled at her, Tigress removed her paw and helped Po up.

Po tensed up internally fearing her reaction at what he was going to say "Tigress what were you trying to do this morning when I woke up".

Tigress looked at him embarrassingly "_I had hoped he had forgotten about that"._

"I-it doesn't matter Po".

Po noticed her reluctance to open up and decided to playfully taunt her so she would continue "Come on you're the ferocious Master Tigress, a cunning and fearsome warrior who feels no fear, you've got no reason to be nervous about telling me anything".

It wasn't Po's greatest strategy ever it could have easily backfired and Tigress might have just gotten angry, but it worked and Tigress looked more confident as she told him.

"After a whole lifetime of not being able to feel Po, I want to, and...I thought your fur looked...really...soft", Tigress blush was now so great that you could almost feel the heat coming off of her.

Po looked at her like Christmas had come early, Tigress didn't notice however she was just staring at the tree trying to avoid Po's gaze.

Tigress felt two thick arms envelop her in a hug. Po spoke into her ear "I'm so proud of you for being strong enough to open up around me".

Tigress gently pushed him away, "Come on Po let's get back to sleep".

Tigress turned to walk away before she felt Po gripping her paw.

"Tigress wait".

She turned to face him, Po was looking at the ground embarrassed.

"I-if you ever want to y'know learn how to feel again m-maybe I c-could teach you?" Po stammered.

Tigress smiled at him "You know what Po maybe I will, but not tonight, let's get back".

"Ok Tigress". They walked back to the barracks hand in hand.

xxxxx

In the shadows a figure had been watching them the entire time.

"_I've got to take him out, they don't know what he's capable of, it doesn't matter that he hasn't done anything yet, I won't let him hurt anyone else least of all Tigress"._

Crane watched them walk them back to the barracks, he quickly left so he could get back to the room so nobody would notice he had been gone.


	10. Chapter 10

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 10- Crane vs Po**

_The Present_

Crane stood standing on the roof of the training hall waiting for everyone to wake up, he wanted to take Po out but he didn't have the heart to do it in the night right after he had talked to Tigress.

"_Maybe I can beat him without ending him" _he thought.

He stood for a bit longer until he heard the morning gong "_It's showtime" _he thought and lept off of the roof.

xxxxx

"Good morning Master".

Master Shifu observed everyone bowing him, he almost gasped in shock when he saw Po was also among them.

Shifu smirked "You're learning panda".

Po straightened up and smiled "Thank you master".

Shifu then turned on the others "Now I know what we heard yesterday may have disturbed you, but we have to remain united and try to prevent those events from happening".

He looked around "Where's Crane...the older one I mean?".

Crane suddenly appeared at the mention of his name

"Sorry it's been a while since I've used the training hall so I took my opportunity" he smirked to reassure them all.

Shifu nodded "I understand, we were all just about to get breakfast then we could talk more about planning for the arrival of the _evil_ Dragon Warrior

Crane glanced at Po a plan formed quickly in Crane's head, "Okay Master but before you do that could I have a quick word with the Dragon Warrior I want to ask him something".

Po looked at him in surprise, Crane refused to make eye contact with him so he wouldn't give anything away.

Shifu nodded again "I don't see why not".

Crane walked off outside and Po followed him.

The whole time Tigress had been looking at Crane suspiciously "_All of that information that he told us and he suddenly wants to speak privately to Po, it could be nothing and Po can handle himself, if I hear anything I'll make my move"._

With that she followed the others into the kitchen.

As they all sat down Shifu asked the present Crane something.

"You've been surprisingly quiet Master Crane is everything alright?".

Crane looked at him "Yeah I'm okay, I guess I'm still digesting it all really, I can't believe that Po would do that" he looked determinedly at Shifu, "Though if I could prevent it I would do anything".

xxxxx

Po and Crane walked out to the courtyard, when they stopped Po put his hand on Crane's shoulder.

"So future buddy what's up?" Po asked cheerfully.

Crane pushed Po's hand away "Po before I talk to you properly I need to know, are you in love with Tigress?".

Po started to fidget nervously "Ummmm is this important?".

Crane nodded "It could be yes".

"Yes I do, more then anything", Po blushed heavily it was the first time he had admitted it aloud.

Crane raised an eyebrow in surprise "I didn't expect you to be so flippant about it".

Now it was Po's turn to look confused "Well you just asked me, so in your world was I so bitter and lonely that I couldn't trust my friends?".

Crane nodded again "Yes, like I said yesterday you would only talk to Tigress, ok onto what I was going to say".

"I may have put on a kind face yesterday Po, but let me tell you the truth, I don't trust you and if it meant saving everyone here today then I would gladly put an end to you".

Po gasped in shock "You can't mean that, I'm your friend...right?".

Crane glared at him and shook his head "You are not my friend, as far as I'm concerned you are my enemy".

Po looked glumly at him "Look Crane", Crane sneered at Po's use of his name, "I know that I must have done terrible things to y-".

He was cut off by Crane who kicked Po to the ground "It's not just that _Dragon Warrior _it's also things you _made _me do, you made me kill for you and I'll be only be to happy to show you personally what I learned that day".

Crane looked deeply into his eyes "I _will _protect Tigress from you, in my time she has suffered the most because of _you_, you've desecrated her name and memory by killing".

Po roughly pushed him off stood up and got into a fighting stance, "You know I would never do anything to hurt Tigress, I love her Crane why would I hurt her?".

Crane got into a stance "I don't know why you hurt any of us , all I know is that you will cause the ruin of the valley".

"Don't make me fight you Crane" pleaded Po.

"I'm taking the choice out of your hands Dragon Warrior, I'm going to finish this now before it starts".

Crane launched a kick at Po.

xxxxx

_The Future, One week after Crane's __disappearance_

Po was standing on the roof of the Jade Palace gazing out onto the Valley, there was an eerie feeling in the air maybe because of the silence or because you could feel the tension of the village.

It was early morning, the sun was only just beginning to rise.

Po hadn't slept all night he had just sat on the roof talking to the locket and fantasizing about killing Crane.

_"It's been one week, now I make my move", _Po lept off the roof and made his way into the Hall of Heroes.

_"I should recharge the stone before I go, you never know what I might find", _Po walked down into the cells which were full of people that Viper, Monkey and the guards had been ordered to put there.

Po randomly picked a door and unlocked it using a set of keys that were hanging on the wall.

A young male sheep was chained to the far wall, he looked malnourished and poorly looked after.

"WAKE UP" yelled Po.

The sheep jolted awake and cowered in fear at Po's presence.

"I'm going to need your help with something" said Po while closing the cell door behind him.

There was silence until a red light shone out of the bars.

xxxxx

Po walked out of the cell block and into the barracks which had been moved into the Hall for ease of access.

He knocked on Viper's door and waited for her to answer.

She opened the door sleepily and rubbing her eyes with her tail to get the sleep out of them.

"What time is it Po? she asked groggily.

Po scowled at her for using his name but decided to let it slide.

"I'm going away for awhile to search for Crane so I'm leaving you in charge".

Viper woke up immediately "Wait what, why?".

"I'm going to finish this personally" Po answered patiently.

Viper looked at him worriedly, she sighed knowing whatever concerns she voiced would be shot down very quickly.

"Ok, just be careful we can't afford to lose you" Viper smiled at him to try and get more of an interaction.

Po wasn't fazed and just looked blankly at her, "I should be gone about a week, if anything urgent should happen send a messenger out for me, repeat all of this message to Monkey and the guards".

Po went to leave but stopped when he remembered something "Watch Mantis more closely while I'm gone, I'm sure he has a plan and he might be able to escape with just you and Monkey here".

Viper nodded and watched him walk away.

"_How much longer before you come back to us Po?"._

xxxxx

Po walked through the deserted streets of the Village, he saw a rabbit looking out the window of the florists shop, Po glanced at him, the rabbit saw this and hastily closed the window and darted back inside.

Po walked up to the shop and took a bouquet of flowers that were by their self.

He walked through the village until he came to the spot where Tigress had died, the remains of other flowers still remained there.

Po pushed them away and laid the bouquet he had on the exact spot where she had been taken from him.

"I miss you everyday Tigress, if I could go back then I would gladly take that arrow for you".

He sat for a while before getting up, he looked to his left towards the ruins of his fathers old noodle shop, he hadn't rebuilt it.

Po began to feel the urge to let his emotions out, he ignored it and carried on.

He eventually reached a forest, Po looked around to see if he was followed.

When he had made sure that the coast was clear he pulled the stone out of his pocket and started to make Tai Chi movements.

"_Ok, I can feel some of Crane's residual chi in the stone maybe I can use that to follow him". _

Po took a deep breath and searched the contents of the stone using his chi.

Two hours passed until Po finally got it.

He smirked in victory, "_Finally! Now to rid myself and the world of Master Crane"._

Po pointed the stone's gaze at himself and let the floodgates of his chi loose.

He felt himself start to disintegrate, leaves were rising around him because of the raw power of the stone.

After he had completely disappeared the leaves fell back down to the ground.


	11. Chapter 11

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 11- Bruises that Won't Heal/ It Finally Happens.**

_The Present_

"Tell me Po, what's to stop you becoming a brutal killer?, you've already killed Tai Lung and Shen, why wouldn't you escalate?"

Crane dodged a punch from an irritated Po, Crane retaliated by swiping at his face.

Po grabbed Crane's foot and threw him across the courtyard "You know that Shen brought that cannon down on himself, and what exactly were you and the Five going to do when you left to confront Tai Lung?".

Crane rolled over on his back and got up, _"Ok he's got a point there"._

Crane took a run up and leapt over Po, when Po looked up the sun got in his eyes which blinded him temporarily, however when he was looking up he saw a familiar figure on the roof.

While Po was rubbing the spots out of his eyes a plan quickly formed.

Crane took his opportunity and launched a kick at Po who was still rubbing the spots out of his eyes.

Po dodged the kick from Crane and countered with an uppercut which found it's mark, Po had kept his eyes closed the entire time.

Crane flew towards a wall and crashed into it leaving an indent.

"_I still can't beat him even when he's younger" _Crane thought as he laid on the ground.

Po opened his eyes finally and looked at Crane sadly.

"Stop this now Crane, I'm not the panda who's trying to kill you".

Crane got up and brushed the dust of of himself, "No you're not now but you _will _be".

Po tried to reason with him again, "Instead of fighting me why don't you just help me not become that, talk to me, tell me what I need to do to avoid becoming China's enemy".

Crane scowled at him "I doubt that I can change your destiny, the only thing I can do is try to stop it".

Po decided to think strategically "_OK apparently this Crane doesn't have a moral center, does everyone become a jerk in the future?"._

Po sighed "Will ending my life really make you feel better? Think about it Crane you'll just be as bad as the Po in your world, you don't have to fight like him to beat him".

Crane considered that for a moment, he shook his head "No I can't risk it, there's too much at stake for me to let you live".

Po could see by Crane's expression that he wasn't going to convince him, Po knew what he had to do, "_I'm sorry everyone but I can't take the chance, I love you Tigress I'm just sorry that I never got the chance to tell you"._

Po walked over to Crane, "Ok Crane, I refuse to fight you anymore, just kill me and get it over with".

He faced away from Crane and knelt on the ground.

Crane looked at him in shock for a minute before frowning determinedly, he walked over to the rack of weapons and grabbed a dagger off of it.

Crane stood directly behind Po and lifted the dagger up, "For what it's worth Po, I'm sorry".

Po nodded "I understand, just tell Tigress that I love her and that I'm sorry".

Crane remained silent but Po knew he would do as requested.

Crane took a deep breath and swung.

Suddenly a orange and black streak appeared out of nowhere and stopped the blade in it's path.

Tigress glared up at Cane with fire in her eyes, "Leave my panda alone", it wasn't yelled but the fury behind the words could be still be felt. She had blocked the blade in her palm, she suddenly whipped it out of Crane's wing and punched him in the face.

Po whipped his head round at Tigress's voice and stuck his tongue out at Crane for falling for his ruse.

"You didn't honestly think I was just gonna give up did you?" said Po , Tigress broke the dagger into halves and threw them across the courtyard.

"_That was a close one"_ thought Po, "_If she had been a second later then that would have been the end of little old me". _

Crane shook his head in disbelief, "How?, you couldn't possibly have communicated this plan to one another".

Tigress look quizzically at Po, "Plan?" she asked.

Po blushed lightly "Well I knew you would save me if I let my guard down, it was the only way to get Crane to try and trust me, also I saw you watching us on the roof".

Tigress gasped at his recklessness, "Po you idiot" she hissed "I can't believe you would do something so stupid just to get this traitor to trust you".

Po sighed "Tigress he's scared of me, if we're going to help him then he needs to trust me".

Crane interjected "How did you know?" he asked Tigress.

Tigress glared at him "After what you said yesterday I was suspicious of you wanting to be alone with Po, I went with the others to the kitchen but I excused myself quickly and waited in hiding to see if you would try anything".

She looked at Po and snarled at him "And it was lucky I did".

Po tried to defend himself "Oh come on Tigress, I knew you would get here in time, after last night I know you'll never let me down".

Tigress found it hard to stay angry...but she managed it, she grabbed Crane by the wing and dragged him into Master Shifu while completely ignoring Po.

Po stood by himself in the courtyard before huffing guiltily and walking away.

xxxxx

Tigress threw Crane onto the floor of the training hall, Master Shifu saw her treatment of him and wandered over to investigate.

The rest of the five also saw this and stopped their training to see what had happened.

Shifu looked at Tigress with an eyebrow raised "What is the meaning of this?".

Tigress bowed "Forgive me Master but Crane attempted to assassinate Po".

The five gasped in shock, Shifu looked outraged.

Mantis jumped up the present Crane's shoulder "Wow...you turned into a jerk as well Crane, looks like I'm the only good guy here!" he said triumphantly.

Both Crane's and Viper rolled their eyes.

Tigress simply looked at Mantis "Shut up Mantis", he immediately shut up.

Shifu turned on Crane "If you want us to trust you then trying to kill the Dragon Warrior is not the way to go about it, we'll put you in the cells until we can figure out what to do with you".

Tigress grabbed Crane to put him in the cells but Shifu stopped her,"No Tigress, Monkey and Mantis can do it".

Tigress looked surprised which slowly turned into offense "I can handle him Master" she said irritated.

Shifu nodded "Of course you can, but I need to speak with you alone".

Tigress nodded hesitantly, Shifu turned to the five "Monkey and Mantis take him to the cells" he gestured towards Crane. Monkey and Mantis sauntered over and dragged Crane away to the cells.

"Crane and Viper, leave us".

As soon as Crane and Viper left Shifu looked at Tigress and sighed, "What is troubling you Tigress?".

Tigress tried not to give herself away "Nothing Master".

Shifu smirked "Now Tigress, we both know that isn't true".

Tigress cursed internally at her master's observational skills.

Tigress huffed "Po nearly died and the clumsy idiot would of been if I hadn't been there".

Shifu chuckled at Tigress's lousy attempt at covering up her emotions.

"Tigress are you in love with Po?" he asked suddenly.

Tigress blushed heavily and refused to look Shifu in the eye, "N-no Master of course not", it was a lame deflection and they both knew it.

Shifu smiled "Well then if you don't then why did you follow him and Crane, you know he can defend himself and you're quite clearly scared that he was going to die".

Tigress looked shocked "So being afraid of losing him means that I love him?".

Shifu shook his head "No, I believe you are more scared of him dying without him knowing about your feelings for him, tell me Tigress, do you intend on pursuing these feelings?".

Tigress had been rumbled so she decided to just be honest "Yes Master, I do love him, but I don't know if I should act on them, I..I'm scared that he would reject me".

Shifu raised an eyebrow "Tigress you know him better then anyone, do you really think he doesn't feel the same way".

Tigress didn't say anything, she just looked at the ground ashamed.

Shifu saw her apprehension "Tigress, you have my blessing, but it is your choice what to do with it".

Shifu left Tigress alone in the training hall with her thoughts.

xxxxx

Monkey and Mantis threw Crane into the cell, he landed on the floor with a groan.

Monkey shut the cell door.

"Welcome to the Jade Palace Inn, unfortunately we don't give the five-star treatment to dirt bags" said Monkey with a smirk.

Crane got up sharply and ran over to the door.

"Let me out you're making a big mistake, he's going to kill you all".

Mantis yelled back "Enjoy your stay".

Crane began to panic "No Wait!" he said while shaking the bars on the door.

Monkey and Mantis just ignored him and walked back to the barracks.

Crane sat down dejectedly "_I'm a sitting duck here, I have to find a way out"_.

xxxxx

Po had walked up to the Sacred Peach Tree to meditate. He sat down underneath it and began to slow his breathing down.

"_Tigress was right, that was a stupid risk, if she hadn't been there then I would've died, I would've left her and Dad all alone"_.

Po gasped in shock "_I completely forgot about Dad, he doesn't know about any of this, maybe he shouldn't, it might be a bit much for him to know I'm a insane murderer in the future"_.

Po sighed, all of the weeks events, the date with Tigress and their growing relationship coupled with Future Crane's arrival and the news that his future self was on his way to kill all who stood in his way were finally starting to get to him.

He preferred it when he was fighting someone like Tai Lung or Ke-Pa, just when he had to fight evil without making any hard choices.

After a while he decided that he should go find Tigress and apologies to her about his recklessness.

He stood up, brushed the dirt off of himself, took a deep breath to calm his nerves and walked back to the barracks to find her.

xxxxx

Po walked into the barracks and went straight to his and the fives rooms.

He stood in front of Tigress's room and knocked twice, no answer.

"Tigress, hello?" he called out softly, still no answer, he pushed the door open slowly just in case she was actually in there.

Her room was deserted, Po closed the door on his way out and went to look in the kitchen.

When Po entered the kitchen he saw Crane and Viper deep in conversation, they looked like nothing else in the world mattered to them at that point, he smiled softly, Tigress clearly wasn't here so he decided to leave them in peace.

The last place to look was the Training Hall, Po could tell from the noise coming from the inside that this the place he should of looked in the first place.

He waited until the noise died down before approaching the entrance.

He pushed the door open hesitantly and peeked inside.

Tigress was sitting on the floor, surrounding her were splinters and chunks of wood which had come from the equipment that she had destroyed.

Po moved towards her slowly before realizing that startling her probably wasn't the best thing to do.

"Tigress, are you ok?" Po asked.

Tigress's ears perked up at the sound of his voice but apart from that she showed no recognition that she had heard him.

"I'm fine Po" she said unconvincingly.

"Really?" said Po, "Because I think that those dummies you destroyed would disagree".

He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Look Tigress, I'm sorry, it was a stupid plan but we need Crane to trust me if we're going to win".

Tigress pushed Po off of her roughly and stood up with her back to him, "Po you moron, have you thought he might of told you that story just so he could get you to doubt yourself, how do you know that he's not the evil one?", Tigress turned round and started to scowl at Po but this didn't seem to bother him.

Po blinked at her before answering "No Tigress, I don't believe that, I see real fear in his eyes whenever he looks at me, and I don't think Master Shifu would miss a trick do you?".

Tigress ignored him "You could of died Po, and for such a pointless reason, have you thought of what would happen if you died?", she started to lose her anger slightly "Your dad would be heartbroken as would the rest of the five and Shifu".

Po started to feel really guilty, he noticed however she didn't mention herself.

"What about you?".

Tigress looked away "I already told you Po, I couldn't live without you".

Po gasped in realization at what she was implying.

"No Tigress, you can't mean that".

Tigress looked back at him into his eyes, "I also can't live without telling you something, something that I've wanted to tell you for a long time".

Po felt his chest tighten in anticipation and he held his breath.

"I Love you Po".


	12. Authors Note

**I don't often do authors notes but I just want to say something, it's been a whole month since Comfort which was my first story was uploaded, it's been a wild ride of a month and I want to thank everyone who's read, reviewed or messaged me about my stories whether they are good or bad comments. The people I thank the most however are as follows.**

**Pandafan91- This guy is a proper dude, if he hadn't been so friendly and so supportive it wouldn't of happened so thanks man seriously.**

**greengiant1995- My best friend who has helped me every step of the way, even when it may not seem like it .**

**Now these two people are the people I wanted to thank most, but there some other people I want to thank.**

**Goddess of Imaginary- For being supportive from the very beginning, also if you hadn't requested "Date" then "A Better World?" would never of happened so I have you to thank for that story's creation as well as "Date".**

**pandamaster97720- For being the first person to review "Comfort" within an hour of it being uploaded (which still baffles me), thanks man seriously.**

**draco122- For being a consistent and helpful reviewer.**

**dajuanwilliams- For the same reason.**

**newguy100 - For being hugely enthusiatic about my stories and for making your enthusiasm infectious.**

**And finally kungfuawesomeness for being a really great fan.**


	13. Chapter 12

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 12- China's Savior?**

_The Present_

The Dragon Warrior picked himself up off the ground clutching his head, "_I guess it must of worked I can feel Crane's presence is stronger here, I can follow it to find him and then finish him"._

Po looked around at his surroundings, the forest looked pretty much the same compared to his world.

"_Ok time to get going", _Po set off in the direction of the Valley.

xxxxx

When Po arrived in the valley he noticed something was bothering him but he couldn't quite put his finger on it and then it hit him, _"It's not silent, I can hear the streets bustling, why is nobody inside?, don't they know how dangerous it is out here?". _

As Po walked the streets he didn't know how to act, as he rounded a corner he bumped into a small rabbit.

"Hey watch where you're-" he looked up finally noticing who he had bumped into.

"Oh hey Po, how's it going?".

Po looked quizzically at him "Fine, I guess?".

The rabbit ignored Po's peculiar reaction and walked off.

"_This place is crazy, why was he so happy to see me?, what have I gotten myself into here Tigress?, I should of just left Crane to die here"._

He carried on walking until something caught his eye, he turned, what he saw made him gasp in shock.

_"Dragon Warrior Noodles & Tofu, someone's taken over dad's restaurant and changed it"_, Po scowled hatefully at the shop and made his way inside.

The place was empty, Po noticed that the hatch was closed, he walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hello?" he called out.

"Po?, Po is that you?" said Mr Ping from upstairs.

Po's heart skipped a beat "_It can't be, Dad's alive?"_.

Mr Ping walked down the stairs to greet Po only to be tackled by him.

"Dad!, I've missed you so much", Po hugged his adoptive father tightly.

Mr Ping was naturally confused, "Po I'm flattered, but I only saw you a few days ago, is something wrong?".

Po put him down, he felt like crying from happiness "No Dad, nothing's wrong, it just...feels like years since we spoke".

"_Ok I'm obviously in the past because Dad's still alive, I'll hang out with Dad for a bit then find Crane and leave, as much as I want to I can't stay here too long, I might say something that changes time"._

Mr Ping beamed "Oh Po, you know if you want to see me I'm just a short walk away".

Mr Ping's became concerned "Actually Po there is something I want to ask you".

Po thought he'd been rumbled, Mr Ping looked at his face before asking "Where did you get that scar and you look much older, what's happened to you?".

Po gulped, he'd forgotten about his appearance.

"Ummm this is just some Kung Fu training, we are learning about blending in with a crowd and I thought looking different might help so Viper helped me to look like this".

Mr Ping sighed in relief, "I'm glad to hear it, so do you want some soup?".

Po smiled "Yes please", he knew he shouldn't stay for long but...

For the next hour they just talked about whatever was on their minds, it was the first truly happy memory Po had acquired in over two years.

Eventually he decided to leave, Po helped Mr Ping clear away the dishes from their meal.

Po stood at the doorway of the restaurant, he knelt down and hugged his father.

"Goodbye Dad, it was great to hang out with you again after so long, see you soon hopefully".

Mr Ping was bemused by Po's choice of language but decided to ignore it.

"Goodbye Po".

As Po walked to the Thousand Steps he thought to himself.

_"Talking to Dad has made me realize even more that what I'm doing is the right thing to do, killing scum is worth it for keeping Dad alive and it just makes me wish that I had started doing it years ago, if I had he wouldn't have died"_

xxxxx

_The Present...still , Tigress has just told Po that she loves him_

"You what?" asked Po, he couldn't believe, no he refused to believe that this was really happening to him.

"I love you, okay? I've loved you since the battle with Shen, but I didn't realize it until recently" said Tigress blushing heavily.

They just looked at each other for a while, Tigress thought that Po was being rude by not answering her but he was just having a hard time digesting it.

She turned away from Po heartbroken that he hadn't reciprocated her feelings.

After a while of awkward silence she started to hear Po chuckling to himself.

Tigress turned on him angrily "How dare you!, I pour my heart to you and you just stand there and laugh".

Po stopped laughing instantly and looked at Tigress's face, she looked devastated and he realized that she'd got the wrong idea.

Po moved closer to her "No Tigress, you don't understand".

Tigress pushed him away "Understand what, that you've just been leading me along the whole time".

"No Tigress that isn't it", but Tigress refused to listen.

She turned away from Po and started to walk out of the hall, Po ran up to her and grabbed her arm.

Po moved around her so he was standing on front of her, "Tigress, please just listen to me".

"Leave me alone, Dragon Warrior," Tigress seethed coldly, while holding back the incoming tears.

Po knew he couldn't reason with her so he just did what his heart told him to do.

He immediately embraced her in a bear hug, squeezing her to the point where she could not move a muscle.

Tigress was caught completely by surprise "Let go of me this ins-".

Po cut her off by embracing her in a passionate kiss, for that extensive moment, it felt like their souls were connected, like everything around them blackened into the nothingness; the only thing that was left was their love, and it burned brightly, like a thousand suns.

Po eventually broke the kiss and was happy to see that Tigress looked disappointed at the sudden loss of contact.

Po looked deeply in her eyes "Tigress, I'm laughing because I'm giddy with happiness, I never thought in a million years that the most beautiful girl in all of China could ever love a fat panda like me".

"I love you Tigress, I always have".

Tigress felt a wondrous wave of joy warm her body and she smiled at Po, he loosened his grip around the striped feline, and gently placed her on the ground.

Tigress raised an eyebrow at him "Really Po, you didn't know, I couldn't have made it anymore obvious, do you think I would of acted like I did in the Wu Dan mountains with anyone else?".

Po looked embarrassed "Yeah I guess I should've seen that", he chuckled again "So I guess I really did end up teaching you to feel didn't I?".

Tigress shook her head while smirking "Always the comedian Po?".

"Ok then Tigress a serious question".

Po walked up to her looking uncertain, Tigress looked at him concerned "What is it Po?".

"So are you my girlfriend now are what?".

Po looked away out of embarrassment and started to ramble "N-not that you have to decide now it's j-just that I want something to make it official".

What Po didn't see because of his panic was Tigress's expression

Tigress was smiling uncontrollably and her heart started doing somersaults in her chest, "_Girlfriend does have a nice ring to it". _

Tigress walked over to him and pulled him into a loving embrace, she purred into his shoulder which calmed him.

"It doesn't matter Po, what's important is that we know".

Po nodded "So do you want to tell everyone?".

Tigress shook her head "Maybe we should leave it for a while, you wouldn't want them to talk would you?, not to mention Master Shifu may get more strict with us".

Po gulped nervously, he hadn't thought of Shifu, _"Oh man I hope he's not too bad"_ Po thought.

Po's stomach started to rumble, Tigress chuckled "C'mon Po lets get something to eat".

Po grinned like an idiot _"Cool, I found out Tigress loves me, we're together and now we're getting something to eat, how can this day get any better?"._

On their way out Po thought of something.

"Hey Tigress".

"Yeah Po", Po smirked confidently.

"Do you want some Secret Ingredient Soup?, c'mon since we're together can you just have it this once y'know for me?".

Tigress sighed "Ok then fine, if it will make you happy".

_"And now she's having the soup, wow I am on a roll" _Po thought happily.

They walked out of the hall hand in hand.

xxxxx

Crane sat in the cell contemplating, he sat up sharply when he felt a dark presence.

"_Oh no" _thought Crane.

"He's here, The Dragon Warrior is here".

Crane leapt up and started to call for help "Help! somebody, he's on his way here, we have to stop him, he'll kill us all".

Crane started to give up hope before he heard someones footsteps, Crane started to panic just on the off chance that the visitor wasn't friendly._  
_

To his relief it was Master Shifu, Shifu walked up to the door of the cell.

"Crane are you Ok in there?" Shifu asked politely, Crane huffed irritably at Shifu's tone.

"Why would you care?, you threw me in here and now I'm a sitting duck when The Dragon Warrior shows up" Crane yelled angrily.

Shifu cast a stern gaze at him, Crane's anger wilted at Shifu's expression, "_Even though it's been years since he's pulled that face at me, it can still have the same effect of shutting anyone up"._

_"_Crane, do you really think that I would put you in there completely defenseless after what you've told me? Shifu asked with an eyebrow raised.

Crane's beak creaked open in shock, "So you actually believe me then?".

Shifu chuckled "Of course I do, no-one could have made up such an outlandish story, not even Po, I put you in here so I could use you as bait against your world's Po".

Crane blanched "WHAT!", he began to get angry again "You can't do that, he's powerful and experienced enough to kill us all, do you really think he's going to fall for something like this?".

Shifu nodded "Of course, even though he's evil he is after all still Po", Shifu sat down and began to patiently wait for the bear to fall into the trap.

xxxxx

The Dragon Warrior stood at the bottom of the Thousand Steps, he had bought a straw hat to cover his face so no- one else would recognize him and a cape so he could look more imposing.

_"Ok it feels like he's in the palace", _Po closed his eyes so he could focus and pinpoint Crane's location to a more exact spot.

"Bingo!" Po yelled, "_So he's in a cell, ha! Shifu and the others must not have believed him and then threw him in there, I just have to get in and out without being spotted"._

Po started to make his way up the stairs.


	14. Chapter 13

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 13- Master and Student/ The Two Reunited **

Po and Tigress entered the now empty kitchen, Po spotted a note on the table and picked it up to read it.

_Monkey and Mantis are hanging out in the village and Me and Crane went for a picnic, hope you and Po will be alright together. _

Po chuckled "It looks like we're not the only ones who've seen the light, have you noticed how much time Crane and Viper seem to spend with each other...especially recently?".

Tigress nodded and smiled "Yeah I saw them hanging out together the other day when we "trained" together in the Wu Dan mountains", she aired quotation marks when she said trained.

Po walked over to the cooking utensils to make him and Tigress something to eat, Tigress sat down and watched Po work.

"So Tigress, after we've eaten what do you want to do?" Po asked without looking at her.

"We should probably go and talk to the Future Crane" said Tigress without taking her eyes off of Po.

Po raised an eyebrow in surprise although this went unnoticed by her, "Why?, I thought you hated him".

"Oh don't get me wrong Po for trying to hurt you I do hate him", Po smiled at her protectiveness.

"So I'll be watching him very closely for your sake, it's just that I want to know more about your counterpart, like how he fights and moves, I get the feeling we'll be seeing him soon".

"Ok then", Po finished making their meal, he brought it over to the tables but before they began to eat.

"I love you Tigress" Po said softly,.

Tigress blushed "_I'm still not used to his affection, well it has only been about ten minutes since I knew about it"._

Tigress smirked "Shut up and eat Po", Po's face fell.

"And I love you too Po".

xxxxx

Po reached the top of the stairs and took a good look around the courtyard, "_It looks different from how I remember it, the air feels much more relaxed"_.

Po walked across the courtyard looking at how neat and tidy everything was before reaching the entrance.

The Dragon Warrior opened the door to the Hall of Heroes, he stepped inside and made his way down to the prison cells.

He reached the cells and saw Master Shifu meditating in front of a cell.

Po gasped in happiness, "MASTER SHIFU!".

Shifu opened his eyes and looked at the source of the voice, he looked sorrowfully at Po knowing that he would soon have to fight him.

Shifu took in Po's appearance "_He definitely gets more mature that's for sure, there's no childishness to him either, he won't be easy to beat"._

Shifu stood up "Hello Dragon Warrior, you have come to kill Master Crane have you not?".

Po's face hardened "So he told you".

Shifu nodded "Yes he did, he told me about the atrocities you've committed and the monster that you've become".

Po shook his head "I'm not a monster I'm doing this for the good of the Valley and eventually the rest of China".

Shifu sighed "I'm sorry that you've lost your way panda, all I can say is that I'm ashamed of you and your Tigress would be as well if she were still alive", "_Ok here he comes that should have riled him up a bit"_.

Po's eyes narrowed and his blood began to boil "Don't ever talk to me like you know her, I love her more then you ever did, and if I wasn't so weak then she would still be alive". Po threw his cloak and hat off fiercely.

Shifu frowned, that comment Po had made had hurt him deeply but he refused to show it, "Po, it is not weakness to show mercy, it is weakness however to allow darkness to infest your heart like a cancer, I'm done talking, I'll give you a chance to surrender".

Po snorted arrogantly "It's been years since I've seen you Master, but if you're not with me then you're my enemy", Po shifted into an unfamiliar fighting stance.

Shifu gasped "_He's using Tiger Style in combination with his Panda Style, I need to finish this quickly, no..I can't beat him, the best I can do is stall him and stop him getting to Crane"_.

Po looked questionably at Shifu "_Why hasn't Crane said anything?, wait a minute his chi's moved, Shifu's been distracting me"_.

"Where have you moved Crane?, and don't lie to me" said Po threateningly.

Shifu kept a stern expression, Crane had already told Shifu that Po had learned to track using chi years ago so Shifu had come up with the plan of moving Crane".

"Beat me and you'll find out" said Shifu while moving into a defensive stance.

Po growled in annoyance, he dashed towards Shifu with great speed.

Shifu dodged the blow, Po's fist connected with the wall and knocked a chunk of brickwork out of it.

"_He's so much stronger and faster then the Po I trained, I have to make him angry then he might make a mistake"_.

Shifu landed gracefully on the ground and taunted Po "Did you really manage to conquer the Valley?, you're pathetic".

Po calmly turned around, "Nice try Shifu, but you taught me how to anger a foe years ago, and you taught me how to ignore it".

Shifu decided he had to dig deeper, "If only I had taught you to mind your surroundings then you wouldn't have gotten Tigress killed", it hurt Shifu to say that comment but it had the intended effect.

Po shook in anger "SHUT UP!" he roared in rage, Po threw himself at Shifu again this time actually hitting him.

Shifu hit the ground hard, he blocked out most of the pain but that blow was a lot harder then he was expecting.

Po walked over to him and picked up by the throat, "Don't insult me old man, Tigress's death wasn't my fault, it was some scumbag who got what he deserved".

Po began to choke Shifu, _"I can't get him off he's too strong, this might be the end"_.

Before Po could finish Shifu off a kick to the head sent him flying over to the other side of the hallway, before Shifu hit the ground a pair of stripey arms grabbed him.

Shifu looked up to see the emotionless face of Tigress who was glaring at the downed Po, the younger Po landed in front of her after kicking his future self.

"Oh yeah the cavalry's arrived, you were right Tigress we did see him soon" Po exclaimed excitedly.

The Dragon Warrior stood up and turned to face his attackers, he glared at his younger self but gasped when he saw Tigress.

"Tigress?, is it really you?" he said softly, The Dragon Warrior could feel tears coming.

Tigress put Shifu down gently, she got a better look at The Dragon Warrior.

She nodded sternly "Yes it is", "_Wow I never thought Po would grow to look more attractive, c'mon Tigress focus!"._

Tigress tried to reason with him "Po just stop this, what you're doing is wrong".

He ignored her "I've missed you so much, and I know that you're not my Tigress but I just want to say that I love you, that's what I wanted to say to you before you died".

Tigress sighed "I know you do Po, and I love you as well, but this has to stop".

Po frowned "But you'd still be alive if I had done this years ago".

The younger Po began to get irritated, "Hey, stay away from her you jerk, don't try and poison her mind with your insanity".

The Dragon Warrior looked at his counterpart and finally acknowledged him "Oh shut up you little moron , I forgot how annoying I was".

Po scowled at him "Well I forgot how evil I was...wait that doesn't make sense, oh well you're going down anyway".

Both of the Dragon Warriors ran towards each other and started to fight.

Tigress tended to Shifu and waited for an opening where she could assist Po, at least that's how she rationalized it in her mind.

_"I know he's evil but I don't know whether I can fight this Po, he's still the panda I care about regardless of age and he clearly loves me, but my Po should be able to beat him if he focuses, what should I do?"._

xxxxx

Monkey and Mantis walked into Mr Ping's noodle shop to get something to eat.

"Hey Mr Ping how's it going?" asked Monkey as they walked up to the counter.

Mr Ping smiled at the members of the five, he liked getting celebrities in the shop because it increased profits.

"Not bad, seeing Po earlier has definitely improved my day though".

Monkey and Mantis looked at each other and frowned "But Mr Ping, Po hasn't been down to the village in two days" said Mantis confused.

Now it was Mr Ping's turn to frown "But he was here about twenty minutes ago".

Monkey gasped in realization "Did he seem odd in any way?" he asked .

Mr Ping contemplated for a second and then nodded "Now that you mention it he did seem a little overenthusiastic to see me, not that I don't mind of course, oh and he had a scar across his right eye".

Mantis and Monkey gulped nervously "Oh dear" they both said simultaneously, then they ran to get Crane and Viper to get them back to the palace.

xxxxx

Crane and Viper were sitting in the middle of a field having a peaceful picnic.

"It's so nice to get away from all that drama even for a little bit" said Viper who began to rest his head on Crane's shoulder.

Crane began to panic at the sudden closeness "Y-yeah I agree, I can't believe I met my logical, paranoid future self...boy I don't change much in the future do I?".

Viper giggled "Oh I don't know, you definitely get more handsome and tough looking".

Crane rolled his eyes at his jealousy of his older self "Great so I only have to wait a minimum of fifteen more years until girls will start to notice me".

Viper giggled again and batted her eyelids at Crane, "Oh I don't know Master Crane I think some notice you now".

They were interrupted by the sudden appearance of Monkey and Mantis.

"You guys stop making out, the evil Po from the future is at the palace" said Mantis in a panic.

Crane and Viper sharply stood up "Wait what?" said Viper.

Monkey made a "follow me" gesture, "C'mon we'll explain on the way".


	15. Chapter 14

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 14- The Sacrifice Play**

_Five minutes before Po and Tigress show up to confront The Dragon Warrior._

Shifu's ears pricked up, "I can hear him, Crane he's here".

Crane's face fell, _"Well I guess this is it"_ he thought sadly.

"So what's the plan?" asked Crane while standing up to the bars so he could see Shifu.

"I'll let you out so you can get away, you don't need to fight him you've done enough I'll take it from here" Shifu said sternly, he stood up and let Crane out of his cell.

"But Master Shifu, you can't beat him by yourself, let me help I don't care if it kills me, I'm of the only ones in my world who still believes in the sanctity of life and I need to teach Po that", Crane said sadly, he walked out of the cell and shut the door behind him.

Shifu glared at him "Didn't you just try and kill our Po because you were afraid of his future as far as I'm concerned you're just as bad as _him_ , now leave you've done enough".

Crane looked down shamefully, _"He's right, I've done more bad then good here"_.

Crane walked out of the dungeon sorrowfully, behind him he could hear Shifu sit back down and start to meditate.

xxxxx

Crane walked slowly out of the palace and down the Thousand Steps, every footfall was melancholic.

_"I'm a monster, I've left all of my friends to fight a monster that a world I'm part of created, and I tried to kill Po"._

Crane stopped in his tracks, _"Maybe I can't beat Po, maybe this is the last fight I'll ever know. But all I know for sure is that my Tigress would never forgive me if I didn't even try to help"._

Crane turned and looked back up at the Palace, "Hang on everyone, now I'm coming for _you _Dragon Warrior".

With a laugh full of happiness or hysteria? it was hard to tell, Crane took a run up and launched himself in the air and flew as fast as he could back to the Palace.

xxxxx

_The Present_

_"Ok this is bad"_ thought Po as he picked himself up of the ground.

Po had spent most of the fight trying to survive, he could barely get a hit in, his counterpart was just too much.

Tigress was still making sure whether Master Shifu was ok.

Po faced down his older self, "Y'know you're a jerk, you murder innocents, slander the name of the love of my life and now you're making me look bad in front of her". After he had finished his little rant Po wiped his mouth with his right hand and pulled it away to see blood on it.

_"Owww, I guess I was too busy getting beaten up to notice my mouths cut"_ Po thought.

The Dragon Warrior narrowed his eyes in annoyance "Does your obnoxious machine come with an off switch?" he asked irritably.

"It does" said Po while shifting into a fighting stance "But it doesn't work".

He threw a punch on the scarred side of The Dragon Warrior's face, it connected and saliva flew out of his mouth.

The Dragon Warrior stumbled back "So you are actually able to think smartly, that was a clever move staying in my blind spot".

"I had one heck of a teacher" said Po triumphantly.

"So did I" replied Po, _"Ok this is getting annoying, time to finish this quickly"_.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Scared Blood Stone, he smirked evilly at Po.

"You know what this is don't you?" he said. He focused his chi through it and the hallway began to light up in a blood red color.

Po's eyes widened in fear and realization, he turned towards Tigress, "GRAB SHIFU AND GET OUT OF HERE!" he yelled in panic.

Tigress looked up and could hardly see for the light, "WHAT ABOUT YOU?" she yelled back, she picked Shifu up.

Po turned back towards the enemy "I'LL BE FINE, I'LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU".

Tigress nodded and began to ascend the stairs to get outside, she ran through the Hall of Heroes and outside.

xxxxx

As she got outside she bumped into the rest of the Five, "What are you all doing here?" she asked.

"We've come to back you and Po up" said Monkey proudly.

"You're a bit late" Tigress noted dryly.

Suddenly the ground began to shake violently, they all moved away from the Palace and towards the stairs.

They all turned to look at the Palace, Tigress was panicking about Po, _"I hope he's alright, he was really struggling against himself, I should of helped him, I let him down again" _she thought solemnly.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by an intense red light coming out of the Palace, the Five shielded their eyes from it, they could hear what sounded like an explosion, when the light dimmed and they moved their hands away from their faces they gasped at the sight before them.

The Palace had been completely leveled and there was no sign of either Po.

Tigress put Shifu down, ran over to the debris and began to frantically pull rubble away to search for Po.

"Po!, please don't leave me" Tigress said softly her voice reeking of heartbreak.

"Looking for this?" she whirled around to see the sight of Crane carrying a badly injured but still alive Po.

Tigress ran over to him, took Po off of him and laid him gently on the ground.

She started to stroke Po's cheek softly. "Don't ever scare me like that again you big idiot".

Po chuckled but stopped sharply "Owww, it's hurt to laugh".

Crane walked over to them "I found him in the rubble about twenty feet from here, I didn't see The Dragon Warrior anywhere, he sighed in happiness, "It's finally over".

"I wouldn't be so sure", Crane's face fell.

He turned to see a completely unharmed Dragon Warrior smirking evilly at him.

"So Crane I finally found you, time to die" he started to walk menacingly over to them.

Tigress leapt to Crane's defense, Crane gasped in surprise but put his wing on Tigress's shoulder,

She turned and looked at him, he shook his head "No Tigress, this is my fight, I've already done enough damage to you all, protect Po", Crane moved around her, "I'll take care of _him_", he gestured towards the Dragon Warrior.

Tigress hesitated but moved out of the way, she heard the five approaching.

"PO!" Viper shouted, they all gathered round Po's barely conscious form.

"Is he ok?" asked the younger Crane.

Tigress nodded "He's injured but he should be fine".

She glared at The Dragon Warrior, her sympathy for him had completely disappeared "That Po however won't be".

Her anger disappeared when she looked back at _her _Po, "We need to get him and Shifu some medical attention, help me lift him".

xxxxx

Crane and Po stared each other down, "So, how did you survive unscathed?" asked Crane.

Po laughed evilly "Oh it's quite simple really, I brought the palace down on top of us both but I created a shield using the stone, the younger me wasn't so lucky and had the full weight of the palace fall on top of him".

Crane narrowed his eyes at Po's cruelty "So I see being around the Tigress and Shifu of this time hasn't changed you, you're still a jerk".

Po snorted "I may be a jerk, but at least I'm an alive je-".

Crane jumped at him suddenly catching him completely off guard, he landed a kick in Po's face.

Po slid across the ground, debris cut his arm, _"I'm lucky, that could have cut an artery, so Crane really isn't messing about, he's out for blood, by forcing him into this no matter the outcome I've won today"._

"Get up" Crane said sternly.

Po stood up "I'm impressed Crane, you've actually grown a back bone for once".

Crane ignored him and tried to peck him with his beak, Po dodged it and landed a vicious punch to Crane's stomach.

Crane doubled over struggling to breath, _"He just broke two of my ribs, I need to distract him"_.

"What's the matter Po?, too scared to use the stone on me?, afraid you might lose control?".

Po laughed "No, I've waited for this moment for years, so I'm going to savor and enjoy it by beating you to death with my bare hands. Ha I just made a pun".

Crane looked around and spotted the Sword of Heroes, he began to slowly edge his way towards it.

Crane started to distract Po, "Po it's not too late, we can back to our world together and try to rebuild it, it doesn't have to end with one of us dying".

Crane quickly glanced at the sword, Po saw him look in that direction.

He turned and saw the sword sticking out of the ground, "Ha, Crane you sly dog, you were edging your way over to this, to catch me off guard weren't you".

Crane's face fell, _"No, I've lost, he's going to kill me"_.

Po walked over to the sword and pulled it out of the ground "I don't know where my sword went during the palace collapsing, but I'll be happy to take this one".

Crane tried to move but his injury stopped him, he gasped sharply in pain.

"After I kill you, I'm going to find my stone, it should be in this rubble somewhere".

Crane scowled at him "I thought you sai-".

Po kicked Crane on his back and put the tip of the sword on his stomach.

"No I used it but that fool knocked it out of my hand during the commotion however the short answer is". Po put his face close to Crane's "I lied" Po hissed.

"Goodbye Master Crane, you were my greatest nemesis and it was an honor to battle, no sorry that was someone else I barely ever gave you a second thought", Po laughed evilly.

Po thrust the blade into Crane's stomach.

xxxxx

Tigress placed Po gently on the floor, she sat next to him and watched him breath softly.

They were in the training hall, it was the only safe place within walking difference that she could bring him.

The others were taking care of Shifu, out of the two Po had the worst injuries.

Tigress looked around to make sure they were alone, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and started to talk to Po.

"Po, I know you can't hear me, but I just wanted to say how much you mean to me, if we win this, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I'm not talking about marriage, as you know that's forbidden by the rules of the Sacred Onynx, I just mean if we were together for the rest of time, then I could die happy".

She opened them to see Po's smiling face looking back at her.

"Gee Tigress, you don't have to wait until I'm unconscious to tell me these things, but for what it's worth, the feelings mutual", Po tried to get up.

Tigress rushed to his side and helped him, when he was up they kissed.

When they pulled back, they looked into each others eyes.

Suddenly the door opened.

They both whirled around expecting to see Po, but they saw a very weak and injured Crane clutching his bloody stomach.

"Hey guys", he said weakly, he started to make his way over to them, he made two steps before collapsing on his back.

"CRANE!", Po ran over to him and slid next to him.

Tigress sighed _"His injuries are too great, this is the end for him"_.

She walked over to him and kneeled on his other side.

Po lifted Crane's head up, "How?".

Crane coughed "I went to fight The Dragon Warrior...it didn't go so well".

Po looked away angrily, "This is my fault I should of finished him off when I fought him".

Crane looked into Po's eyes "I'm sorry for trying to kill you, I see now that you're nothing like him, you're a true hero, you can win".

He turned to Tigress "I'm sorry Tigress, I couldn't protect Po, I'm sorry I let him go down this path, and I'm sorry I couldn't stop him".

Tigress was confused "What are you talking about?".

Crane chuckled "Sorry you're the closet I can get to my Tigress so I said it to you".

Tigress nodded understandably.

Crane breathed peacefully and closed his eyes.

Within thirty seconds the Master of the Crane Style breathed no more.


	16. Chapter 15

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 15- The Most Dangerous Weapon**

The Dragon Warrior seareched through the rubble looking for his stone, _"I know Crane might have got away but that wound will definately finish him off, now I just need to find the stone and then I can leave, after all I still need to get Mantis as well"_.

He suddenly saw a light from underneath a tile, he walked over to it and lifted it up to reveal the stone laying neatly on the ground.

Before picking it up he had a thought, _"Hmmm, maybe I can save this world too?, this world is the mess mine used to be, it's settled then, I'm going to save this world too". _

Po picked it up the stone, held it aloft and laughed, his laugh rippled through the Valley like thunder.

xxxxx

Po and Tigress were still sat by Crane's recently lifeless body.

Po suddenly stood up, "C'mon Tigress, we have to move him and give him a proper burial" he looked at Crane sadly, "He deserves that at least".

Tigress stood up as well, walked over to Po and embraced him.

"Po, we don't have time, your future self is still out there and neither you or Master Shifu could beat him, we need to find the others and come up with a plan", she gripped Po's paw tightly and looked into his eyes as if she was pleading with him.

Po refused to make eye contact with her, did he feel guilty or was he angry? Tigress couldn't tell.

Po nodded and Tigress led him out of the training hall, Po looked back one last time at Crane and sighed.

xxxxx

Down in the Valley everyone was in a panic after seeing and hearing the Palace suddenly collapse.

Mr Ping was standing in the market getting supplies for the restaurant when it happened.

Mr Ping looked up at where the palace once stood and prayed for Po's safety.

"I hope that you're okay son" he said sadly.

xxxxx

The five had taken Shifu into the barracks and put him in Po's room on his bed.

Viper bandaged his cuts, Monkey and Mantis were sitting in the room with them just in case The Dragon Warrior attempted to finish him off.

Crane was sat in the kitchen with his head in his wings, _"This is a nightmare, the palace is gone so any mystical weapons we would've used are probably gone, Po and Tigress are missing while we're facing the most powerful enemy that we've ever fought, I'm a nutcase when I get older and I don't know how to tell Viper how I feel about her, although that last one isn't so important right now"._

He looked up when he heard Po and Tigress enter the kitchen, _"Ok Po and Tigress aren't missing, but everything else still sucks"._

He sighed with relief at Po and Tigress's well being, Tigress stepped forward "Where is everyone?" she asked.

Crane got out of the chair and lead them to Po's room.

When everyone was gathered in Po's room Po decided to bring them up to speed.

He took a deep breath, "Crane is dead" he announced in a emotionless voice.

Everyone apart from Shifu and Tigress gasped, "How?" asked Viper who looked close to crying.

"My evil self did it, he easily stood up to me and Master Shifu so we need to come up with a game plan".

Everyone was surprised at how competently and seriously Po was talking.

Tigress gazed at him _"This is a very attractive side to him, stop it Tigress for god's sake! You're acting like a schoolgirl around her first crush"_.

Po didn't notice Tigress conflicted demeanor, Monkey coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Maybe we could all attack him at once, it doesn't matter how strong he is he can't take us all on at once".

Po shook his head "I'm not in any condition to fight anyone at the moment, and he's trained and fought with your future selfs for years so he'll know all of your strengths and weaknesses".

"I'm afraid Po is correct" said Master Shifu weakly.

"MASTER SHIFU!" Po yelled happily, he and the others crowded around Shifu to help him up but he waved them away.

"I'm fine students, albeit I will be sore for a while", Shifu stood up with a groan.

He turned to Po, "Po, does he still have the stone?".

Po shrugged "I don't know, I managed to knock it out of his hand but he might of found it by now".

Tigress decided it was as good a time as any to tell Shifu of the fate of the palace.

"Master" she said softly.

"Yes Tigress" he replied glancing at her.

"The palace was destroyed by Po's counterpart in an attempt to kill us" she bowed before him "I'm sorry but we couldn't save any of the artifacts that were inside".

Shifu gestured for her to rise "Tigress, it doesn't matter, as I was taught by a certain panda the real treasures are not material, I'm just glad none of you were hurt", he smiled at Tigress which alleviated her guilt somewhat, she stood back up and resumed her place at Po's side.

Shifu became stern one again "Now onto more pressing matters, I agree with Po that rushing him is not the wisest course of action, I believe we should try and lower his defenses first and catch him off guard".

Crane interjected "But how Master?, we have nothing to use against him".

Shifu looked at him "You couldn't be more wrong Crane, we have the one weapon in the world that can defeat him, though I admit this tactic is a bit...juvenile, there's no reason it shouldn't work".

"And what weapon is that Master?" asked Viper.

Shifu looked at Tigress and smirked "We have the power of love".

xxxxx

Po started to make his way towards the stairs down to the Valley to begin his conquest.

He froze in shock when he saw Tigress leap gracefully to the top of them.

When she saw Po she started to walk towards him.

"Tigress" Po muttered with no emotion in his voice. He was conflicted on the inside, he knew full well what she thought of him but he wanted her to change her mind and side with him desperately, _"If she does, everything I've done will be justified"_.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

She ignored his question and kept walking towards him, Po started to get hostile. "Stay back Tigress, I don't want to hurt y-".

Tigress cut him off by kissing him full on the lips, they stayed like that for several minutes locked in a passionate embrace, for Po it was everything he ever thought it would be.

Tigress pulled away and left Po with a longing and shocked expression, she looked deeply into his eyes.

"Po you need to leave, they're going to kill you, I managed to sneak away to tell you this, I know what you've done but I don't want you to die, take me with you to your world so we can be together, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you".

Po beamed at her, "I love you too Tigress, we can go later I want to make this place better first".

Tigress smiled at him "Ok my love".

He turned his back to Tigress and started to walk to the Valley.

"NOW!" Tigress suddenly kicked Po's legs from underneath him so he landed on his back, she put all of her weight on his stomuch to hold him down.

Crane swooped down from the sky carrying Monkey, Mantis and Viper approached Po from behind.

Each of them grabbed a limb and held it down, Monkey his left leg, Mantis his right, Viper grabbed his right paw and Crane got his left paw.

Po struggled violently but he was well pinned, Shifu and the good Po appeared and rushed over.

"Po grab the stone off of his person quickly!" ordered Shifu, Po nodded and advanced.

"Why Tigress?" yelled the older Po.

She ignored him and refused to make eye contact with him, she just focused on her mission.

Po had almost found the stone until his counterpart yelled "NO! I WILL NOT BE DENIED BY YOU WEAKLINGS", he threw off the five with a frightening level of strength.

Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey hit the ground roughly, Tigress crashed into Po and they ended up on the ground in a heap.

Shifu gasped, the plan had failed, only a miracle could save them now.

The Dragon Warrior furiously advanced on the grounded five to finish them off, he took the stone out of his pocket and pointed it towards them.

Po saw his friends were in trouble, he saw that Tigress wasn't conscious.

Po sighed _"I'm going to have to get involved, I might die here"_, Po resigned himself to his fate, he kissed Tigress's forehead gently moved her off of him.

He stood up slowly.

"Leave them alone you coward" he yelled at his counterpart, Po dashed towards him and kicked him away.

_"Oww, I'm still injured from earlier I've got to finish this quickly"_ Po thought while clutching his leg.

The Dragon Warrior quickly recovered "That was not wise, why throw away your life so recklessly?".

Po shifted into a fighting stance "That's a question you should ask yourself".

The Dragon Warrior aimed the stone at Po, Po's injured leg prevented him from moving.

The stone glowed red and shot a thin beam out of it, Shifu quickly pushed Po out of the way.

Po and Shifu hit the ground hard, "Are you okay Master?" Po asked.

Shifu groaned "I'm afraid that's all I have left, the rest is up to you".

Po nodded and stood up.

The Dragon Warrior laughed, "You have nothing left now, your friends are down and your Master is beaten and broken, how exactly do you plan on winning?".

Po scowled "I guess we'll find out faker".


	17. Chapter 16

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 16- Po Ping Vs The Dragon Warrior**

Po and The Dragon Warrior stood at a standstill scowling at each other, neither one moving a muscle.

"Y'know if you surrender and promise to never come back I might consider letting you go" Po said confidently.

The Dragon Warrior looked unsure of himself for a split second almost as if he were considering it, then he shook his head, he turned his back to Po.

"No, you don't understand how much good I can do here, In my world I have become justice, the only hope for China, since I started, wars in China have stopped and bandits don't attack the valley anymore, but it's not enough both of these world are still rotten with too many rotten people, I had to do it", he turned back round "WHO ELSE COULD HAVE DONE IT, AND COME THIS FAR!" he roared.

The Dragon Warrior calmed down and breathed heavily "The only one who can create a better world...is me, the only verdict is vengeance, a vendetta given to me".

Po stood resolute "NO!" he yelled, "I'm going to stop you, and instead of just telling you since you're obviously not listening, I'm going to _show _you how Po Ping is supposed to save the world".

He shifted into a fighting stance "Lets go".

The Dragon Warrior scowled at him "I'd thought you'd never ask".

He jumped at Po viciously and threw a fast kick at him, Po rolled out of the way barely dodging it.

He retaliated by sweep at The Dragon Warrior's feet.

xxxxx

Tigress lifted her head up off of the ground to see Po and The Dragon Warrior locked in combat about twenty feet away. The older Po was clearly at an advantage due to Po's injuries and he was clearly winning their fight.

She struggled to get up, The Dragon Warrior was able to inflict a surprising amount of damage on her with only a few moves.

She collapsed on the ground again with a groan.

_"That was a nasty tactic Master Shifu told me to use and it still didn't work, I don't know how we're going to win, but I can't give up, not when Po's life could depend on it"._

With the thought of a world without Po spurring her on she managed to pull herself up and start to make her way over to the fight to help Po.

xxxxx

The Dragon Warrior threw a punch which Po ducked "Why are you trying to stop me I'm trying to create the better world that you and me have always dreamed of, a world free from death".

"No!" Po yelled while jumping away to give himself some breathing room.

Po and The Dragon Warrior circled each other.

"You're just taking the easy way out!" yelled Po.

The Dragon Warrior snarled "What do you mean?".

"You just remove free will and kill anybody who dares to question you".

Po kicked him in the face which only served to annoy him more.

Po continued "The things that make a better world, truth, justice and most importantly love they are all things that have to be earned and I'll willingly give my life to protect them.

The Dragon Warrior yelled in frustration and lunged at Po, with his ferocious speed Po didn't get a chance to move.

"I'm stronger than you" he punched Po in the gut which made him double over.

"I'm more experienced than you" he kicked Po while he was down.

"And I'm not held back by mercy" he looked pitifully at the defeated younger Po.

Po struggled to get back up, The Dragon Warrior saw this and laughed "Stay down _coward _you can't win_"._

_"He's too much I'm hitting him with everything but he just keeps getting back up, oh man I'm wiped I really need to sleep"_.

Po almost lost hope until he saw something in the corner of his eye.

Po stood up to his full height "You may be all of those things and many more , but I have one thing you don't".

The Dragon Warrior folded his arms and smirked evilly "And what's that?".

Po looked him dead in the eye and smirked back "An incredibly hot girlfriend for backup" he looked over his counterparts shoulder "NOW!".

Tigress leapt out from nowhere and kicked the older Po in the face which sent him crashing to the ground in a heap.

Po got up and walked over to Tigress who landed gracefully near him.

Tigress looked at him and smirked playfully "Incredibly hot? _really _Po".

Po smirked back "Oh you know you are". Po changed his cocky smirk into a warm smile, "Thank you Tigress, I honestly thought I was done for then"

She smiled back at him warmly "Of course Po", then the penny dropped, Tigress frowned "Please don't tell me you let your guard down again so you could let me make a sneak attack".

Po smirked again "Guilty as charged".

Tigress punched him in the arm "Po you idiot!", Po clutched his arm and groaned in pain.

Po saw her distressed look and immediately pulled her into a loving embrace, all of her anger melted away.

Po rubbed the small of her back affectionately "I'm sorry Tigress, but we _need _to win and if that's what it takes then that's what I'm going to do".

Tigress sighed "Just please stop making a habit of that".

The Dragon Warrior got up with a groan so Tigress and Po pulled away from each other and shifted into fighting stances.

The Dragon Warrior looked at Tigress confused "Why? Tigress I thought you loved me?".

Tigress coldly rebuffed him "No I don't love you _Dragon Warrior, _you kill in my name and expect me to think it's right? I'm glad I can't see the things you've done in your world, I'd rather die and so would your Tigress".

The Dragon Warrior looked crestfallen, Po watched him just in his case he tried something in retaliation.

Tigress grabbed Po's paw "I love Po, _my _panda, as far as I'm concerned _Dragon Warrior_ you aren't Po anymore.

Po smiled at Tigress's show of affection and stuck his tongue out at The Dragon Warrior, "

The Dragon Warrior looked like his world had ended until he sighed and glared hatefully at the pair of them, "Fine, you leave me no choice, you're not the Tigress I love".

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his locket which he had put in there to protect it from the Palace's destruction, he held it out on his palm and showed it to Tigress and Po.

She gasped at the sight of her future self's fur sticking out of the locket, _"He kept me with him all this time"._

"This is the Tigress I love, as far as I'm concerned you're just another threat" he growled.

Po blanched at the sight of his counterpart's obsession, he gripped Tigress's paw in case he had to throw her out of the way.

He reached into his other pocket, Po knew what was coming and quickly threw Tigress out of the way to protect her.

He leapt at The Dragon Warrior and grabbed his paw to stop him aiming the stone at anyone.

Tigress landed hard on the ground and looked up to see Po grappling with his older self who had the stone in his hand.

They were evenly matched, Po found his strength from his love for Tigress while The Dragon Warrior found it from his rage.

"I know what I'll do" said the Dragon Warrior angrily, "I'll trap you in my memories of the worst day of my life so you can see why I'm right, why I'll always be right".

"No!" said Po, _"If I focus I might be able to use the stone to send him back to his own world"_.

As the two fought over control of the stone the light coming from the stone was getting more intense, Po looked up at Tigress sadly.

"Goodbye Tigress, I love you too".

The light was becoming unbearable to look at, Tigress shielded her eyes and tried to make her way over to help Po.

The light dimmed and a huge gust of air pushed Tigress on her back, Tigress got up moved her paws away from her face to look for Po.

Nothing was left of Po apart from some dust.

Tigress's heart hammered against her chest and time slowed down for her.

Tears began to cloud her vision and sobs began to escape her chest.

"Po...No" she whimpered softly.

She heard Shifu and the Five gathered around her. Shifu looked at the area and gasped at the area where Po and his counterpart had fought.

Viper began to cry silently, Monkey closed his eyes and looked away, Mantis just stared into space and Crane took off his hat and hugged Viper almost as if he was scared to lose her too.

Shifu looked at Tigress sadly and realized she needed comfort not his usual cold manner, he dropped his guard for the first time since raising Tai Lung and pulled her into a hug, "I'm sorry for your loss Tigress", Shifu sounded surprisingly emotion.

Tigress could feel her heart begin to break, she fell to her knees and hit the ground as hard as she could, a crack formed in the ground from her blow.

Crane put a wing on Tigress's shoulder "Do you want me to tell Mr Ping?" he said sadly. He knew that him, Shifu and the rest of the five were hurting badly but he knew Tigress felt much worse so he stayed composed for her sake.

She brushed his wing off of her shoulder coldly and walked off without a word.

Shifu sighed and watched her retreating form, "She is going down the same path that the Dragon Warrior did, we cannot let that happen..._I_ cannot let that happen", Shifu turned to the five "I'm going to help Tigress, the rest of you see if the villagers are okay, _do not _however tell them of Po's fate, we don't need a panic at this present moment".

Shifu limped off after Tigress, The five stood there for a little longer then slowly skulked off to the village. Crane looked over his shoulder one more time at

"I wonder what happened to the Dragon Warrior?" asked Crane to no one in particular.

xxxxx

_11 Years after Lord Shen's defeat_

"So what did you drag me up here to talk about Po?" asked Tigress with a soft smile on her face.

On the inside Po was panicking, _"No! not again, I need to warn her, I can't let her die again, but I can't move, I'm just acting the same way I did on that day"._

Suddenly time flashed forward to her death.

Tigress was laying face up with an arrow firmly planted in her chest right where her heart was.

"TIGRESS" Po yelled, he ran over to her and cradled her, "No, it can't end like this" he pleaded.

_"NO! I failed her again, please just let me save her...please" _Po pleaded internally

The Dragon Warrior was stuck in a loop of the worst day of his life for all of eternity. It was the heaven he wanted with his Tigress and the hell he deserved. He was aware of what was going to happen but he couldn't do anything to stop it, he was a prisoner in his own mind and body.

"So what did you drag me up here to talk about Po?".


	18. Chapter 17

**A Better World?**

**Chapter 17- What Lies Ahead**

Tigress was half way down the stairs when Shifu suddenly landed in front of her.

"_Don't _Tigress, let me inform Mr Ping, give yourself time to grieve", it was hard to tell whether it was an order or a request.

She ignored him so he tried again. "Don't close yourself off, both me and The Dragon Warrior tried that and it made us both bitter and miserable".

"Leave me alone _Master_" hissed Tigress, she was shaking, in anger or in hurt? It was hard to tell. She walked past Shifu and continued down the stairs.

Shifu sighed and changed tactic, "This isn't what Po would want for you".

She froze at the mention of Po, Tigress felt the need to cry again but she denied it, instead she turned on Shifu using her rage to make herself feel better.

"You can't _possibly _understand how I feel", she threw a lifeless punch at Shifu, he carefully dodged around it, she fell to the ground clumsily, her emotional state was making her clumsy and reckless.

Shifu looked down at her sadly "While I could never match your feelings towards Po, _don't _make the mistake of thinking that you're the only one who cared about him, we are all grieving Tigress".

Tigress sobbed in frustration "I loved him Master, now he's left me all alone", she felt Shifu hug her softly.

"I'm sorry Tigress" he said simply, "I will tell Mr Ping, at least let me spare you that pain".

Tigress nodded, it seemed selfish but telling Mr Ping would be emotionally difficult and she just couldn't face him out of guilt.

Shifu picked her up off of the ground, "What are you going to do now?".

Tigress looked at him for a moment, she walked off silently in the direction of the Peach Tree.

Shifu nodded "I see", when he was alone he finally let his guard down, he felt tears running down his face, "I'm so sorry Po".

xxxxx

When the five finished checking on the village they decided to go back up to the remains of the palace to scavenge anything that had survived.

Crane was sifting through the rubble when he spotted a strange shape in the debris, he frantically dug his way towards it and pulled it out.

It was the stone, _"It must of landed here after the Po's were fighting each other"_.

He held it in his palm and thought hard about bringing Po back to life, it didn't work.

Crane angrily threw it on the ground, he started to leave it behind before looking back at it.

_"No I can't leave it here you never know who might pick it up, I'll give it to Shifu later"_.

Crane suddenly had a thought _"Maybe it can't bring Po back, but at least we can restore the palace"_, the thought was hollow, Crane would give up a thousand palaces if it meant seeing Po again.

xxxxx

Tigress sat alone underneath the tree, she was deep in thought.

_"I feel numb, I wish I had never fallen in love with you Po, all it's brought me is pain and loneliness. For a moment I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with you, but you ended up spending what was left of your life with me"_.

She put her head in her hands, this was the worst pain she had ever felt in her life and she knew no matter how hard she trained she would never conquer it.

Po's face suddenly popped into her head, he was smiling warmly.

Instead of making her angry or upset, Tigress felt... happy, she remembered all of the love and the _good _memories they had shared.

_"Po I hope somewhere that you can hear me, though our time together was short, too short, it was the greatest time of my life, I can't move on, you were the only person that I will ever love, I hope that you're still alive out there, maybe you were just transported somewhere and you're making your way back here now? I don't know, but I won't ever give up on you"._

With this thought Tigress stood up and walked back to where the palace once stood to help her friends.

xxxxxx

_In the future_

A figure sat down at a table and began to write.

_Dear Tigress_

_I know that you won't ever get this letter, but by writing it I feel like I'm close to you. I hope you can forgive me for breaking your heart by sacrificing myself, maybe that's what this place is, maybe it's the personal hell that I've been allotted for hurting you, or maybe it's a dream that I can't wake up from, or maybe I've just taken my evil counterparts place here. All I know is that it's a strange place, there's so much fear and uncertainty and people are scared of me, it's quite understandable though, I caused so much pain and suffering here._

_I've met the Viper, Monkey and Mantis of this world and I've told them of Crane's sacrifice, I'm going to make things right between us all and make this place peaceful again while I find a way back._

_I don't know how to get back to you, but no matter what, no matter how long it takes me , I promise you, I __will__ find a way, we'll be together soon Tigress._

_Don't ever give up hope, I know I won't._

_All of my love forever, Po_

The End?

**And that's it the end to A Better World?, rest assured there ****will ****be a sequel.**

**Thanks to everyone who's been reading since the beginning of this story and I hope to see you again down the road.**


End file.
